Let Your Heart Beat Light
by waffleirons
Summary: The people closest to you keep the most secrets. eventual Yukio/Rin
1. Chapter 1

Six year old Rin Okumura held an important piece of paper in his hand. Though if it really was _that_ important, the kind of important which really shouldn't be touched or destroyed accidentally, then he wouldn't be holding it. So it wasn't _that_ important of a paper, but it was important to Rin.

School wasn't interesting to him. Sitting in one place for long periods of time, listening to a teacher that habitually talked to them in that baby _oh aren't you just the cutest thing?_ voice even though everyone In the class was already older than five(Rin and Yukio, being born in December, were consequently the youngest), and learning to read and write things he didn't care to read or write about generally didn't have him enthused about his education. So Rin generally spent most of his time in class daydreaming about things like what he could convince Maruta to teach him how to cook in the evening.

And it wasn't like Rin had many friends or anything in the class to encourage him to participate. Most of the students were already, in their second or third year of schooling, absolutely terrified of the young boy. Yukio was the only one brave enough to sit next to him; the rest of the class kept a safe distance from the older twin amidst their whispers of 'demon' and 'devil'. Even the teacher was wary of the boy's strength and temper. She'd heard of the last teacher who had tried to control the boy. Normally one wouldn't believe that such small, _cute_ boy could send an adult to the hospital, but anything was possible with Rin.

Despite all this, Rin found most of the stuff the teacher taught in class to be pretty easy. Adding, subtracting, and writing correct characters weren't that difficult, though whenever they had a special art class he felt as though the teacher was speaking a different language. In fact, Rin found the subject matter to be one of the reasons he disliked the place so much. How could he enjoy being lectured, given assignments, and tested again and again on things that he already knew? It was extremely repetitive and slow. He usually understood things the first time but was still stuck listening to much of the same because the other students were too slow.

This time was different for him, though, and the very important paper that Rin held proved it. It was the last test of the grading period, and Rin…had gotten a 100%, the highest grade in the class, according to the surprised red pen markings on the top margin of the page.

See, the week before the test, Rin had gotten hold of some of the books his father, Shiro Fujimoto, who would later become known by the epithet 'Old Man' to him, had stacked a bit higher than his rather stubby arms could reach on the shelves. The step stool was conveniently place for him close by and he didn't know where Yukio was at the time so he went for it. He could only carry two of the heavy tomes with him, but he toted them to a quiet and usually unused section of the church, just in case his father did get angry that Rin was touching his stuff, and started leafing through the dusty pages. Now, Rin usually didn't like reading anything, since in class most of the books were about trivial things like cats that got wet in the rain or a mouse that snuck into the house, but halfway through the first page of the first book, titled _History of the Modern Christ_, he decided that, even though some of the words were too complicated and he'd ended up having to lug a dictionary down with him to painstakingly sort through the print, he liked the book. Three hours later, his eyes drooping a bit and his neck a bit sore, he'd finished the books, just in time to hear the arrival of his father back from work, and he slipped the books back into their spot on the shelf so he wouldn't get caught. The next day, and every day after that when he found himself alone, he snuck over to the shelf and borrowed another book.

So on the test, which simply asked the students to write a page about anything they'd done recently so the teacher could grade their grammar and vocabulary, Rin decided to write about what he'd read. He scribbled down the most interesting parts, eager to share what he'd learned about the effects of Christianity, among other religions, on nearly every government since its birth and the downfall of faith in most people, and what that had to do with the insurgence of immorality (though Rin had to confess a lack complete understanding on what was meant by immorality-didn't everybody have some kind of morals?). His somewhat lopsided scrawl, befitting a boy of his age, was too inefficient and large to convey everything he'd wanted to on the mortal number of lines on the page, and he was forced to finish with a 'paper should come with more space to write' barely squeezed in midsentence on the very bottom corner of the page. He was afraid to talk about the books with anyone at home, even Yukio, who was likely too honest to partake in an dishonest gathering of information as Rin was, so he felt it was necessary to say as much as he could in the limited opportunity he had. So upon receiving the important piece of paper and discovering the result, Rin was absolutely ecstatic. He had done something he'd enjoyed, and had gotten a form of praise because of it. He couldn't ever recall that ever happening before.

Rin turned with an enthusiastic grin to his brother, eager to share the news of his score, but halted when he the saw quiet approval in his twin's expression. The slightly smaller boy's face was brightened with a soft smile, only enhanced by the matching spots of joyous blush on each cheek. He looked so _happy._ Rin recalled the hours his twin had spent accosting Kyodo for help with his homework, which he had likely been occupied with when Rin was busy with the books. He had worked hard for his grade, and always took his schoolwork very seriously.

"Good job as always, Yukio," the teacher commended, patting the shoulder of the young glasses-wearing boy lightly. Yukio's light smile turned into an illuminatingly full expression of happiness as he uttered quiet thanks. Rin could see only a single mark on his brother's test, a small but simple grammatical error that he'd most likely made in accidental haste, along with the score of 99% at the top.

Whenever the other kids started to pick on him, Yukio would stop smiling for a while, sometimes days at a time, until Rin managed to find the identity of the perpetrator. Yukio would come home with cuts and bruises and tears because of his glasses or his size, things he couldn't control, but at the sight of this test, even though it didn't receive a perfect, he found a visible happiness that his older brother just didn't see often enough.

Suddenly Rin's paper didn't seem so important to him anymore.

"Rin, I'd like to talk to you during the break, okay?" The teacher had a small daring fire of hope flickering at the performance of the child, but was still internally relieved when he easily agreed with a nod. Maybe his past behavior was just that, in the past.

"What did you get, Rin?" Yukio managed to contain his blinding happiness, but Rin could tell he was just holding himself back. The darker haired boy folded his paper unevenly, hiding the marks on it from anyone's view.

"Mmm, it doesn't matter." Rin's easy grin reassured the other, and he didn't press further.

With the bell that signaled their break, Rin reluctantly made his way to the teacher's desk. Usually when he was called in during the recess it was to be scolded for getting into a fight.

"First of all, congratulations on your score," the teacher began once all the other students had left.

"Rin, what you wrote on the last test is several grades above what we expect anyone your age to do. Considering the last few months with you, I'm actually very surprised." The teacher made sure to stick with compliments, searching for Rin's reaction. He blinked.

"Rin, do you dislike school because you aren't challenged enough?" she asked, hitting the nail on the head. Rin flinched a little and shrank into himself at the abrupt truth of it. Almost everyone else thought he hated school because he was too dumb, even his family, though they were too humane to say it outright, and yet this new teacher, called in to replace the one he'd sent to the hospital months prior, was able to figure it out in that time? He didn't even know her name!

At his silence, the teacher continued. "Because of this, I'm recommending for you to skip the next grade."

No.

"NO!" He slammed his hands down on her desk, startling her. The wood groaned from the abuse. _What kind of child has this strength?_

"I won't leave Yukio!"

"Rin, calm down, I-" She reached out, misunderstood.

"You can't make me!" He slapped away her hands, falling away from her in tears. "I refuse!" He was already confused with what to do about his grade, he didn't want to deal with anything else.

"Okay, it's okay Rin." She kept her distance from him, slightly concerned for her own wellbeing, but nonetheless her voice was soothing to the overreacting child. She cautiously knelt to his level, cupping the boy's face and using her thumbs to wipe away his tears. Even through the all the brute strength he had, he still was a kid.

"No one's making you do anything, it's just a suggestion," she reassured. "You don't have to separate from you brother. I won't even mention it to him if you don't want me to." He sniffed, surprised yet again.

"R-really? You're not lying so I won't get mad?" That's what everyone else did. They were afraid of his anger, and didn't mind hurting him emotionally to get what they wanted, or what they thought was best. People didn't care about someone like Rin, who expressed himself more with his fists so much that his words were unheeded.

"Of course, Rin. I only want what's best for you."

"Why?" Wide, wide blue eyes, now free of tears, looked to her suspiciously.

"Well, a teacher's job is to make sure the students are growing in a good environment, right? If you're unhappy then you won't be able to learn as well."

"...the other teacher said I would probably be held back because I kept getting in fights, and cus I was stupid." Still suspicious. Rin's hands, rough when they should be smooth, his nails cracked and bitten to the nub until just before they bled, firmly grasped hers and removed them from his face. His hands were small and a little grubby, like the rest of him, and the teacher felt something like empathy at the sight. He had to go through a lot more than most kids his age, and it wasn't his fault, but he still had to deal with it. And he wasn't complaining. He bore his cross, even when it weighed him down to the point of collapse.

"Rin, you are not stupid."

Sapphire solemnly locked onto her. "If everyone says it, then it must be true."

"Well then 'everyone' is wrong! Rin, you proved to me on the last test that you are far more capable than what you've done the rest of the time I've been here. You're not stupid!"

"Why do you care! You're just afraid of me, like everyone else is!"

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't at least give you a chance!"

Miraculously, Rin didn't react harmfully. If anything, he seemed to understand what she was trying to convey.

..

"I still don't want to jump a grade." She was actually considering multiple years. Even in the twenty minutes during break, she was able to converse with him on almost an equal level.

"And…don't tell Dad about this, okay?"

The teacher was confused. "About the grade change? I was only going to mention it if you agreed."

"And the test." His face was downcast in shame. "I wasn't supposed to be going through his books."

"Well, you know if he saw your score he probably wouldn't care about that."

He started shaking his head even before she finished her sentence.

"It wouldn't be fair to Yukio."

She didn't understand what his words meant, but…

"Could it be, you want to hide the fact that you can write something like that?" A reluctant affirmative. "But why?"

…

"Rin, I can't say I understand, but you can't let yourself be stunted by something like this, especially at so important an age. Please, especially if you decide not to skip a year, promise to come to me if you ever need anything like this, okay?"

He said yes, and the bell rang. Everything went on as usual for the rest of the semester.

Rin didn't skip the next school year. And he kept his promise to the teacher, if only so he wouldn't have to lie to his brother again.

But the next year Yukio started his special cram school. They began to see each other less and less, despite Rin's decision to stay with him. Rin never told him about the test, or the teacher, the year before, and he never would.


	2. Chapter 2

Teachers come and go, but knowledge remains constant. But the appearance of knowledge is an ephemeral substance, solid for a short time and then gone with the wind; such was the case with Rin.

That first time going through his father's books was supposed to be an isolated incident. He was just bored and lonely; he didn't think it would grow into something of a habit. But that sincere teacher fed his addiction.

Knowledge was something he was interested in, the pursuit of knowledge, how it feeds into all facets. Knowledge of every kind. And he got that knowledge from reading.

Learning only by reading is time-consuming, of course, but it wasn't as if he had much of a social life as a child. Between school and his hobby of cooking, he had plenty of spare time, as well as the interest and motivation to use that time.

And of course he couldn't tell anyone. Even when the pursuit was legitimately provided by that old teacher he never actually learned the name of, it was begat off that first criminal action. Thus, at least by the logic of an emotionally stunted and mentally constrained adolescent, if he were to come clean, so to speak, he would have to reveal the whole entirety of the situation he was concealing, which included the way it all began, which was not okay.

And then there was the matter of his little brother. Yukio had a goal, a dream, for his future. He had the aspiration of being a doctor, someone who uses his knowledge for the betterment of everyone around them, someone who fixes the aches and pains and selflessly makes it all better. Rin liked knowing things, just for the sake of knowing them. Yukio worked hard for everything he did. Rin did not.

He started concealing his test scores from his brother, who thought he did it out of shame. He was almost correct.

And when for various reasons the old teacher left the school, he reverted back to square one. When Yukio was gone on overnight trips for his cram school, Rin would disappear from the awareness of the clergymen, sometimes for hours at a time. He got over his fear of being chastised for snooping in his father's stuff relatively quickly.

If someone who knew him thought about it, they would probably say all his problems started because of his tendency to get into fights.

The first time Rin ditched school was a few weeks after Yukio had started his cram classes. Though that wasn't exactly the reason, and according to Rin himself it wasn't even related.

That morning-Rin would always be able to remember it clearly-he had woken up early to make breakfast because Matsuda was gone on some sabbatical or something and, while food was food and he certainly wasn't picky when it came to eating, if his father or, god forbid, Yukio tried to cook? Complete _shit._

So he woke up early and fell out of his bed, literally, and he could remember Yukio telling him the night before, "Careful not to fall out of bed again, you'll wake everyone up," but he did it anyway, which was acceptable because most of them thought he was an idiot anyway. Which he was. But he wasn't. Anyway, it was basically the same routine for any other day. He had no idea what was coming.

There was a girl. And doesn't everything bad in the world always start with a girl? He name was Lili, and she was in the same class as Rin and Yukio. Most of the kids there had similar features-dark hair, dark eyes, but Lili was blonde, with honeyed skin and eyes that changed color with the sun; a foreigner; a golden angel in comparison. She certainly stuck out like a diamond, and, like most boys, Rin was attracted to shiny things.

She dropped her pencil by accident; she happened to be passing by his desk on the way back and stumbled. Rin, being raised in a somehow holy environment had learned at least some manners, and the pencil had clearly rolled closer to his shoe than she could reach easily, so he did what he thought any normal person would do and reached down to get it. But Lili went for it as well, and they ended up bumping heads and hands with wide, wide eyes staring at each other like they'd never seen each other in their lives. Only, while Rin's eyes were full of surprise that she was so close and perhaps admiration for the beauty she would someday grow into, hers were full of fear of the demon child, and she snatched the pencil out of their shared grasp, running for the safety of her seat on the other side of the room.

"Ew, he touched you!"

"I'm scared, do you think something will happen to me?"

"You should tell the teacher. Why is someone like that in our class?"

Rin overheard Lili and her friends sometime later, but things like that happened nearly every day, and the only thing that hurt anymore was the fact that he might have for the tiniest second gotten his hopes up just a smidgen.

During the recess, though, some weird things happened.

Now, when Rin got into fights, it wasn't just to hurt other people. It was always either to protect Yukio, or to protect himself. And he never denied his involvement: suspensions, calls home, so be it. So he wasn't lying when he said it wasn't him.

Yukio was talking to the teacher at the time, so Rin was alone. It didn't bother him too much that none of the other kids ever wanted to play with him. He had Yukio and his father, and the other clergymen, so it was okay.

Rin was the only one able to climb the old oak in the far corner of the yard, and made full use of it. At ten years old he was thin and lithe, the fastest runner in the class, and could lift twenty times his own body weight (he'd done the math), a ratio he tried his best to keep hidden at home. A tree, no matter how tall, was no match for him, and he wasn't bothered by the cuts and splinters he got when climbing; they blended in with the bruises and scars from his recent fights.

He usually didn't go past the first or second branch. There were many levels above him that would no doubt hold his weight but, though he wouldn't willingly tell anyone this, he was kind of afraid of heights. Not like being on even the lowermost branch wasn't pretty high up, but any higher than that and he would get a bit shaky and a little pit of fear would form in his stomach, and he just didn't like that feeling. So, he set himself a limit of about ten feet off the ground, and didn't break it.

But that day, Rin wasn't in the best of moods. Well of course not; the really pretty girl in class had openly shunned him like he was a monster. He wanted something to keep his mind off the matter, and since human beings avoided him like the plague, climbing just a little bit higher was the only thing he could think of.

The third branch from the ground wasn't that bad. It was only about half a foot higher; it wouldn't kill him. The fourth and fifth branch, too, didn't seem to affect him. By the sixth, though, he noticed his hand start to shake a little, but still he continued.

Attributing the rustling he heard above him to the wind, he reached for the seventh branch. As his fingers brushed the rough texture, however, something jumped out and _bit_ him.

"Ahh!" He thought he would fall and break his neck, or, if he lived through that, he would die from the rabies, but he managed through reflex to grab the sixth branch, where he hung before hauling himself back to safety. He figured he would somehow knock the raccoon out of the tree or climb down fast enough so that it couldn't attack him again.

Only his opponent wasn't a raccoon. He didn't know what it was, even though he'd recently read up on the animals native to the country (he was bored, and the internet was down). So maybe it was some kind of foreign animal?

It was pretty big for a dog-it seemed to be close to a dog, if only because it was growling at him similarly. It was bigger than he was; the radius of the spherical body was at least two feet. It had sharp, deadly looking claws and spikes coming out of its body, and there was a spiked collar around its-well, it didn't really have a neck, but around the junction of the face and the body, which was marked with strange tribal tattoos. And it was _green._ How had anyone not noticed it before? How had _he_ not noticed it before?

The _thing_ yowled at him and propelled itself off the tree, using its massive arms as support. Rin sighed in relief; he was still alive. Then he saw it run off towards the main part of the playground, where the rest of the children were. _Shit._

He swung back forth, gaining enough momentum to sling himself off the tree. He hit the ground running. He knew, _he knew_, the other kids weren't like him. That thing was huge; it would eat them up if they weren't scared to death first.

"Kyaaaaaa!" He heard a girl scream. Part of a building blocked his view of the playground, but it sounded like it came from inside the building, most likely in the hallway. Upon reaching the corner he banked a hard left, rushing past the doorway and into the nearly deserted halls.

He was too late, though. He saw the very tip of the animal's tail as it disappeared out the doors on the opposite end of the hallway, the very entrance to the school. On the floor lay Lili, covered in bruises and unconscious.

"Hey! What are you doing?" The shouts began from behind.

"Oh my god, is she okay?"

"Lili!"

"What did you do to her!"

"Demon!"

One by one they turned on him. He backed into the wall, followed by threatening fingers and accusations.

"Why are you even here if all you do is hurt people?!" One boy, the tallest one in the class, got too close to him, going so far as to push him back. It was only a reflex; Rin grabbed the boy by the shirt, easily holding him a solid inch off the ground.

"What did you just say?" he growled, livid. He didn't ask for this!

From an adjacent hallway rushed in Yukio and their current teacher, alerted by the noise. Rin dropped the boy, who scampered away back into the safety of the crowd. Rin knew how the image must've seem to the newcomers. He was screwed.

"It wasn't me! I just got here!" He pleaded, searching for a sympathetic face among the crowd.

"Liar! You're the only one who could've done it!"

"Yeah, we saw you!"

"You demon!"

"I didn't! I didn't!" He held up his hands in denial. He met Yukio's gaze across the hall, but the younger slid his eyes away to avoid eye contact.

It hurt.

Then Lili, left unattended in the excitement of accusing Rin, woke up.

Rin's eyes caught on to the motion and he gave her a desperate look, pleading with her to tell them the truth. Her eyes merely hardened, however, in distaste for the boy.

She moaned, gaining the attention and sympathies of the crowd. Not a single person asked her directly whether Rin was the one responsible; in their minds, it was certainly him, and she didn't deny the implication she knew to be false.

* * *

"It wasn't me…" Rin muttered in distress, tears beginning to fall from his eyes. He blinked and rubbed them dry with his sleeve, then returned to his task of shelving books. He was alone; the librarian had left him with the snippy promise to be back before he could cause any more trouble.

Since the girl ended up being mostly unharmed besides a few scrapes and bruises, they'd given him in-school suspension until they could talk to his father after school.

He was stuck with restocking the lesser-used section of the library, in the back corner where none of the young children went. He was at shelf 'G'. It ended at shelf 'Z', ten rows beyond. The dusty volumes were welcome companions compared to what he'd been given before, though.

He'd certainly become fond of books in the years since that fateful essay. They were his silent benefactors, his secret mistress to turn to in the absence of familial companionship. It was coveted knowledge he learned when he visited his old primary teacher, and he balked at the thought of giving away his secret to even Yukio.

After shelving the last of row 'L', he skipped to the end of the last row. He figured somehow it would go faster if he worked unconventionally. The books were all the same, anyway; it wouldn't matter where he started as long as they were all in order.

He eventually cleared the stacks of books lining the floor of that row and turned around to go back to the last shelf he had previously skipped. He tripped though, catching himself on the edge of the wooden shelf and barely managing to stabilize both himself and the shelf full of books before it all fell and he would have to start over.

He checked the floor for what he had tripped on. The library was dimly lit and the leather-bound novel had escaped his notice in the shadows of the other books. He picked it up, admiring the old but preserved cover. There was no title.

It was more of a journal, really. Curiously he opened it, caressing the first blank page, yellowed and crinkling with. The pages were brittle but he managed to turn one intact, revealing a page of illegible handwritten text. Actually, as he noticed upon further study, the text was illegible only because it was written in another language, one he did not recognize.

He leafed through the pages, careful not to damage any of them, before coming to a different matter at the exact center of the journal. It was a diagram of a sort. Instructions seemed to be printed neatly in the upper corner, but it was all still in the unfamiliar language. The diagram was comprised of two concentric circles and strange symbols between them, inside the inner circle, and marking the four axes of the outer circle. They were like curly letters, the ones girls spend a long time writing as a title or on posters, but the shapes matched neither his language nor anything he could see of the one the book was written in.

"Hmm…" he mused, nibbling his thumb in thought. What he'd neglected to remember, however, was that his fingers were cut up from climbing the tree earlier. The skin was already itchy and healing, but his sharp teeth accidently broke through the skin easily.

"Ouch!" He shook his hand to get rid of the pain and few drops of his blood dripped onto the journal. He dropped the book.

It began to _glow_. Not like a flashlight or lamp; it was so bright it hurt his eyes whilst illuminating the room with the brightness of the midday sun. It gradually ebbed away, leaving residual spots in his eyes and the dying embers of a naturally blue fire around the circle on the page, miraculously not burning through the paper. Then even that disappeared.

That was it.

"The heck?" He picked up the journal again, turning sideways and upside down to examine it, but he found nothing different. If it weren't for the sunspots still fading from his vision, he would have chalked the whole thing up to his imagination, his mind playing tricks on him in return for his repressed intellectual advances.

_I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately._

The words sank into his head unbidden, and he had no idea why his brain was reciting Thoreau but he had the strangest urge to speak the words aloud. His lips parted.

He resisted; it didn't feel right. Why did his body feel like it was forcing him to submit?

He wanted to speak, to satisfy the craving and see what would happen, but the words didn't feel right. Somehow he knew, from somewhere deep inside of him, saying those words would be a mistake.

It felt like…like he should tell a secret, or say a wish, like that cheesy 'wish upon a star' type thing. But what did he wish for? What dreams did he have to share?

What secrets was he willing to part with?

Yukio's face flashed before his eyes, the brief recollection of his reaction to the allegations against Rin, turning away as if ashamed to be related to the accused.

If only…if only he wasn't so afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid of having a purpose, of disappointing his family. It's not like he liked hurting people, accidentally breaking his father's bones, unintentionally ripping the knob off the door, the door off its hinges. But it happened anyway, and he couldn't prevent it, no matter how much everyone told him he could. If he had no goals, he didn't have to fear not being good enough to meet them. He wasn't like Yukio; he wouldn't be able to meet the expectations of everyone around him.

But…he wanted to. For his family. For Yukio, and Father, and everyone in the church.

_Other things may change us, but we start and end with family._

"Help me," he finished out loud in a whisper. His curiosity bid him relent and he gave in with only the inordinate relief that the words he spoke felt _right_, whatever 'right' could be defined as in that instance. He was thereafter frozen in place for the following events.

The book released another array of blinding light, this time only momentarily. Smoke, the thick black kind that arose from industrial factories, and from that smoke arose a figure, dressed in gothic green and black.

The man was small and skinny, though added height was given by his unusually tall and pointed –green-hair. His teeth were sharp, his ears pointed, and his nails filed to points and painted black. A lollipop hung from his lips like a cigarette, and he removed it as if to speak.

A single nail came up to press down the middle of his lower lip, the set of which pursed together, and then he emitted the most horrifically ear-shattering whistle Rin had ever heard.

The sound jolted Rin out of his stupor. He dropped the journal, still smoking a little, and took a step back, realizing that a person had just come out of a book and _that wasn't normal._ He wasn't sure whether he should run for safety or stay and figure out how the heck the guy had _fit_ in that tiny little thing-what, physics wasn't working right that day?

He decided on the former option and turned tail to run like the devil was chasing him to get the librarian and tell her that her library was haunted and screw them if they wanted him to do work there ever again. As he turned, however, he was met with the dripping, saliva covered jaw of that _thing_ that had caused the whole mess. And up close, the animal was twenty times more terrifyingly rabid-looking.

The thing growled and advanced towards him, forcing him to start edging backwards, closer to the mysterious person.

"Ey, where'd you thing you were gonna _go_?" Suddenly the man was right behind him, snarling in his ear, and he was physically trapped on both sides by the duo.

The man's voice was deep and monotonous, unrevealing of any emotion besides perhaps impatience.

"Who…" Rin swallowed, his throat was dry. "Who are you?"

The man's long nails encircled Rin's arms, holding him back when he jumped in fear. His hands were freezing cold, inhumanly, even. Rin cautiously shifted in the hold; the grip was an iron shackle, binding him to the man.

Rin suddenly remembered every horror film he'd watched, every episode of _Criminal Minds_ and _Law and Order_ he'd snuck when he wasn't supervised. _Oh god, is this some kind of child molester?_ A molester with some weird kinks, judging from the chained animal in front of him.

Black lips drew close to his ear, breathing out chilling air that wracked his nerves. "Isn't she pretty?" he breathed. Actually it was more of a mumble, gargled out through the sucker returned to his mouth.

"Wha-what?" Oh god, was the guy going to kidnap him and sell him to some prostitution ring in Mexico? He dared not struggle. What if he was a freak that got off on writhing kids? Or was a pedophile murderer out for little Asian kids with blue eyes?

"Behemoth; she's a bit cranky in this size though." The man indicated the thing –Behemoth.

"She's…uh, beautiful." How does one act towards a potential serial rapist and his rabid pet thing? Is he supposed to agree with everything or..

"I am Amaimon," the man said suddenly. The grip disappeared from Rin's arms but the man and beast were blocking the only exit, unless he managed to knock over the shelves. By the time he would have accomplished that, the guy would have slit his throat or something equally as fatal.

Amaimon approached Behemoth and stroked her muzzle, coaxing pleased yet still terrifying snarling sounds from the beast. He pulled a rope from a pocket that shouldn't have been able to fit it and proceeded to attach it to her collar. With his back to Rin, he didn't seem as threatening.

"So are you like…a genie or something?"

"No."

"Then, what are you?" Rin figured he was going to attack him or rape or something, he would have gotten on with it by then. He probably, he hoped, wasn't going to die.

Done with leashing the animal, Amaimon turned back to the child. Behemoth was docile in his hold, no longer growling but sitting patiently, awaiting her master's commands.

"A demon," he replied nonchalantly.

…

"No, really. Is that some kind of cosplay?" Rin crossed his arms.

"What is that?" The man seemed confused. His dark eyebrows pushed together. "Can you eat it?"

"No, it's-nevermind." He still looked unsatisfied but did not dwell.

"Are you a human?" The demon suddenly asked. "Brother said you were human but you don't smell right."

"Hu- what else would I be?"

"A demon." He pulled two candies from his pocket, offering one to Rin, who accepted. Strawberry flavored.

"Thanks, but demons aren't real." Too late Rin realized that disagreeing with the stranger freak could shorten his life considerably.

The professed demon brought his thumb and middle fingernails together and flicked outwards. An unnatural bead of black energy bounced off and sunk into the ground. In that spot the universe seemed to ripple and shift before tearing itself apart completely.

Rin had to admit; he was intrigued. Science, as far as he knew, hadn't evolved enough to explain something like _that_. So, whatever the guy was, he probably knew some ridiculously advanced scientific stuff to achieve a stable tear in the universe…or maybe it was a magic trick. It didn't look like one, though.

Amaimon stepped through the portal created, Behemoth shuffling through the narrow space to follow.

"Are you coming?" The green haired man held out his hand. The only thing waiting for Rin at that moment was the impending and unfair punishment sure to be handed out by both the school and his father.

He didn't look back.

* * *

If someone were to look into the other world, in their naiveté they would see a slightly statured man and a young child walking a large, well behaved dog. If they had been marked by a demon in any point of their life, they would see a bit more than that.

The two people contrasted sharply; one, pale skinned and dressed in ripped clothing, the other, dreadfully human and wearing a dirty school uniform from another world. The older's clunky combat boots were more suited to the marshy terrain on the other side of the River Styx.

"There are two worlds; Assiah, and Gehenna."

"Heaven and hell?" Rin interrupted him. The older didn't seem to mind. As long as Rin was obediently following behind him, he was content to answer the incorrect notions of the human society.

"No. Earth and Hell. There is no heaven."

"Then, where do good people go when they die?" Rin, though being raised in a religiously Catholic setting, had never been forced to believe in one thing or another. Honestly he found the clashing religious sects to be kind of pointless; how were they supposed to know which one was right?

"Nowhere."

"So, where do bad people go when they die?"

"Nowhere."

"Then, what are _those?_" He pointed to the mile-long crevasse running through the ground. It was wide enough that he could see the humanoid figures trying to climb up. Every time one reached the top, they were pushed back down by the spear of a blood soaked, armor covered figure atop a skeletal horse.

"People that have sold their soul to a demon. Demons that have angered our Lord."

Rin made a mental note-to-self: _don't make a deal with the devil._

"Why did you bring me here?"

"To see if you would live."

Rin's eyes widened. In the end he ended up being a deranged murderer? "Wha-what?"

"Humans cannot exist in Gehenna; if you were human, you would have died."

"That's stupid, of course I'm human!" the younger said disbelievingly.

"Whatever." Amaimon pulled a sharp looking dagger from an inner pocket. "Do you think you would be able to?"

Rin froze at the sight of the weapon. He'd followed a stranger, eaten his candy, and now he was gonna be chopped up and eaten! "A-able to what?" He prepared to run.

"To fight." The man tossed the blade and Rin caught it reflexively. "I can teach you."

* * *

"So how did it go?" The One In Charge asked. He sat comfortably at his large desk, feet propped up, reclined in the cushioned chair. His audaciously white top hat rested on the desk.

"I will teach him everything he needs to know," Amaimon answered.

"Good," the man purred, a smirk coming into place over his facial hair. "Very good."

* * *

_Good afternoon everyone! Or morning, or night, or whatever. I wanna know what you guys think of this story so far. Also, am I the only one really really frustrated with the manga right now? Everything's moving so slow and it takes so long to update(well, so do I, but still). And Yukio's so screwed up, it makes me want to cry, which I guess is the point but agh! _


	3. Chapter 3

Shiro Fujimoto frowned as he read the latest report on his desk. It wasn't troubling, really…but it had the potential to be.

"You look worried," Yukio pointed out, question evident.

"There's significantly less demon activity in the area than we expected." His brows furrowed, and his hands itched for a cigarette.

"Shouldn't that be a good thing?"

"It could be," he said. "Less demons means less work for us but.." He paused. "Between Halloween and Christmas demons are usually most active. It's worrying that they're not."

He bit the end of his pen before signing his signature at the bottom of another paper.

"It could be they're holding back for some kind of mass attack; that would require leadership, though." He sighed, feeling the stress of being in charge coupled with the feeling that he was missing something important.

"Maybe someone's taking care of them for us," Yukio mused.

* * *

Rin avoided Yukio's disapproving gaze as he got off the train at the wrong stop again.

'When will you ever grow up?' he imagined it said. 'Why aren't you as good as I am?'

But Rin didn't have an answer to these questions any more than his brother did. Or, rather, he did have an answer, but it was an answer that he would never say out loud, not that anyone would believe him even if he did.

So he walked through the folding doors of the vehicle and pretended it didn't hurt when no one tried to stop him. He only had himself to blame, right?

* * *

He loved these kinds of days.

The wind on his face, the sun to his back, nothing but wide open air between him and his target.

"Oi, get on with it already," he mentor of nearly eight years urged him on.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. He would've liked to enjoy the scenery a bit more, but he had work to do.

He jumped from one building to the next, using overhangs and windows as a monkey would branches. The city was alive with hoards of humans with things to do and people to see; it looked like a city of worker ants from his height. So many people, and none of them ever bothered to look up and notice that they weren't alone down there.

Alleys, the underground, those places either forgotten or ignored by the everyday populace: these places were where he thrived. Where people didn't look twice if you were covered in blood or attacking something that wasn't really there because half of them were drunk or high or both. These areas were conquered by poverty and gangs, living in the shadow of the world the bustling citypeople lived in.

He dropped down from the three story building, touching down next to a bundle of dirty blankets, cigarette butts, and food wrappers. The man only partially concealed from the blankets squinted at him thoughtfully before reverting back to gazing listlessly at the wall.

Rin ignored him and proceeded down the narrow alley. To any normal human the street would appear deserted, but he could see the thick, floating amalgamations of coal tar, seeping through the air like smog around the industrial district. As he neared the end of the alley, the density of the floating demons increased, reducing visibility and weighing down the air. Small demons, the weaker ones possessing squirrels, cats, raccoons, those kinds of animals, began to gather around him, nipping at the hem of his jeans and getting in the way of his steps. He kicked them out of his way, ignoring their squeals.

The brick wall blocked signaled the end of the alley, and just before it were stacks of old boxes and crates, thrown there and used by any of the homeless junkies that wandered down that far. Pushing the crates aside, he uncovered an old manhole, dirty and seemingly untouched by human hands. He lifted it open and jumped into it.

Below was a network of tunnels used by those who knew them, and one of them, half a mile away through slime- and god knows what-soaked walls, led to what he was looking for.

It used to be a service station, a convenient place to store crap for the people that worked down there. It had long since been abandoned to the creepy crawlies normal people had nightmares about.

The demon had taken the body of an alligator or something someone had flushed down the toilet, but, according to the information he had been given, it had since gotten bigger, and bigger, and bigger. It's body was two feet wider than Rin was tall, and several times his height when standing upright.

Rin was greeted with a burst of fire aiming for his face the second he walked through the entrance. He dodged to the side, feeling the heat of the blast as the flames singed the tips of his hair.

He managed to avoid two more blasts of fire by jumping behind the thick stone pillars holding the ceiling up. He peeked out behind it, only then catching a specific glance of what he was really dealing with.

Screw alligator, the thing was a fucking dragon!

The beast roared in anger that he'd avoided the flames. It galloped towards him, thick, powerful legs digging into the gravel and sludge coating the ground. Rin rolled out of the way just as the demon smashed into the pillar. He came to his feet, summoning his weapon of choice, a massive battleaxe, the blade of which was bigger than his head. Pale blue light shimmered in his hands before forming into the weapon, and then he was up and on the offensive.

It was hard to get within range to land a hit without being torn apart by the wicked looking claws, but he managed it by ducking behind another of the plentiful pillars. The demon dived towards him as expected, but he reversed his momentum and gripped an indentation in the stone to propel himself up and over the beast.

The demon reared on its hind legs in the attempt to catch him in the air, but it missed and the axe found purchase in the soft exposed underbelly. While it was moaning in pain Rin jumped back around its humongous body to the tail, which was long and covered in deadly spikes. He raised his arm to strike, but the tail suddenly whipped up, knocking him all the back into the wall. His breath left him in a _woosh_; he thought he felt a broken rib. But he didn't have time for that.

The ceiling was high enough for the beast to take to the air, its seemingly mile long flesh-like wings beating to let it hover. Huge gusts of wind tore through the air, knocking Rin off balance as he tried to find a way to gain height.

A rumbling growl signaled another breath of fire coming his way, and he only just managed to fall back far enough to avoid being burnt into steak. He cursed; while it was up in the air, he wouldn't be able to reach it, and it would be able to fly out of the way of anything he threw at it. Studying the demon's attacks, he found inspiration and smirked; this would be over soon.

The demon swooped around to behind him, knocking over another pillar in its flight. Its head tilted back slightly to draw in more oxygen, eyes closing in the effort, and Rin took the opportunity to throw his weapon into the air. The axe spun blade over grip into the beast, who didn't have the reflexes or mobility to dodge it. Both the weapon and the demon dropped like a rock, shattering the concrete of the floor. The demon's form began to dissipate, its flesh turning to vapor, and before it faded away completely Rin tore his precious axe from its burial, right in between the eyes. He willed his weapon to return to its resting place, and it disintegrated into the pale light it came from.

Slow claps greeted him as he resurfaced, crawling from the manhole. Amaimon sat Indian style in the air above his head.

"Congratulations," he drawled. Rin scoffed.

"What the hell was that? You said it would be a little lizard thing!" Rin was dirty and disheveled, fingers bloody, nails ripped, with smoke and ash surrounding him like a blanket. He would have to clean up before he went back home, and then he would be late for dinner.

"Did I?" The demon raised a black nail to his chin thoughtfully. "I don't remember that…"

"Che. Yeah, right." He crossed his arms. "Am I done for today?"

"Mmm," Amaimon pulled out two small candies, one wrapped in black, the other in yellow, and tossed them at him. "Tomorrow at noon."

"Got it," he replied. He popped the mango-flavored candy in his house and thought of the little convenience store about a block from his home. He'd done it so often that he was able to shift straight into the store's men's room (thankfully there was no one in there at the time). He washed as much of the ash and whatever the heck was stuck to his shoes off and left the store, ignoring the ever-disgruntled and confused employee that saw him leave.

He snuck through the back door of the modest house, sighing in relief as the hinges neglected to scream their warning. Maybe he could-

"Rin?" Yukio flipped on the lights, revealing the guilty intruder.

_Shit._

"Oh hey there, Yukio, what's up?" _Why did it have to be him? I suck at lying to him._

The younger brother's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He wasn't going to take any of Rin's bullshit. "Did you get into another fight?"

"So what if I did, huh?" Rin turned away, crossing his arms like a petulant child.

"Come on," Yukio sighed. "We still have some time before dinner." He led Rin into their shared room, pulling out the frequently used first aid box.

"Ah, hey, that hurts!" He tried to pull his hand away from the antiseptic, but Yukio's grip was unrelenting.

"Quiet whining and stay still, otherwise it'll hurt more," the younger said calmly, used to Rin's antics.

Rin reluctantly complied, holding his hands still as Yukio cleaned and bandaged the damaged fingers, moving on to a nasty burn below his elbow that he hadn't even realized was there. It hurt more to clean than to actually receive the wound, in his opinion, and really didn't want to sit through the whole ordeal when, no matter what he did, they would all be healed by the next morning.

When they were still little kids, Rin had been amazed at how quickly the scrapes and bruises went away. He'd praised his brother for his skill in healing him, attributing the lack of scars to his vast knowledge of medical treatment. Of course he knew better now. The burn on his arm would seal up within the night, and not a scar would exist there the same morning. He knew no amount of medical training could produce that result, but he didn't say anything about it, and neither did Yukio. _He probably thinks I'm some kind of mutant anyway._

Still, he admired Yukio for his dedication. The boy worked hard day and night in his schooling, and still made time to take care of him like this. He couldn't help but be proud of his little brother.

_Not so little anymore, though_, he thought ruefully, taking in his brother's height. His eyes wandered from the boy's handsome face to the attractive muscles of his bare arms, and he wondered how he could be that well built if all he did was study. Indeed, he was the prime choice for all the girls at school.

"You're gonna be a good doctor someday," he said, something like reverence in his voice.

Yukio smiled pleasantly. "Well, we'll see about that. You're all done, by the way." He began putting away the supplies as Rin marveled over the neatly applied bandages.

"Thanks, Yukio. Hey, what's that?" His eye caught a familiar design on a book by Yukio's bed. It was partially covered by another book, but the red ink over the cover was unmistakable to him.

"Huh?" He saw what Rin was talking about. "That's just some research I'm doing for a report," he said calmly, allowing Rin to uncover the whole book and inspect the design.

"Hmmm, it looks like some kind of satanic ritual," he finally put it down, seemingly losing interest. "You're not into that kinda stuff, right?"

Yukio laughed easily. "Of course not. Come on, they're probably waiting for us to eat."

Rin followed his brother out of the room, taking one glance at his brother's book. The ringed circles held a smattering of kanji and another language, intertwining to form shape of power. The center of the circles, though, was blank, and Rin knew it would not work if activated.

But why was Yukio reading about binding fallen angels?

* * *

Rin yawned as he opened his eyes. The dim light from a crack in the curtains lit up the old analogue clock to read 6:07. The medium sized room he lay in held two beds but the other, made up impeccably neat, was empty. Normally Yukio would be still snoring, sleeping off his troubles, but he was a diligent and hard worker, never willing to miss anything related to his education. Even though the normal school was on break, Yukio's special cram class wasn't, though Rin didn't really know why that was. So, even though tomorrow was Christmas, Yukio and their father had gone on that trip with the promise to be back in time for dinner.

Stretching only made him want to fall back into his pillows, and it didn't help that the floors were wood paneling that practically froze in the winter mornings, but he managed to pull himself out of the warmth of his blankets and into his slippers.

One by one the rest of the house woke up, enticed by the delicious aroma they all had come to associate with the boy.

"Oh my god, what is that delicious smell?"

Rin smiled, frying up the last of the bacon and turning off the stove before pulling the second batch of cookies from the oven.

"Dig in guys; I don't wake up this early every day!"

A few hours later he'd finished the preparations for the night as well as baked the extra dough.

"Izumi, you can take these to the church now," he called, wrapping the last of the baked goods. Every year he gave the extras out to the people who stopped in for Christmas. Like baked charity, spreading the wealth of sugary goodness.

"Mm, these are almost too good to just give em away," Izumi snatched a deliciously frosted cookie from the platter set aside for the household, undeterred by the spoon Rin used to smack him away.

"I thought you were supposed to a priest? Now hurry up, before you ruin my reputation!" The man laughed and did what he was told.

Rin began cleaning up the mess, only to be kicked out of the kitchen by Kyodo.

"Rin, what are you doing? Go out and enjoy yourself!" The other clergymen swept into the kitchen, prevent Rin from finishing his work.

"This is the day we celebrate your birthday; you gotta give us time to prepare!"

Rin reluctantly left it to them, uneasy about his precious kitchen being touched by inept hands. Still, he had somewhere to be, and it was a quarter til noon anyway.

With everyone in the house busy, it was easy to slip out unnoticed, and he trotted to the nearby park. He ducked behind the slide and, after checking there was no one in sight, opened up the black candy wrapper. He broke past the hard sugary coating with his teeth, revealing the grape-flavored liquid within. There was a trick to it; if he resisted at all, it wouldn't work, or he'd end up stuck in the middle of earth's crust. His tongue dipped into the purple substance and he closed his eyes, relinquishing his grip on where and who he was.

When opened his eyes he was in the upper class part of the city, and he recognized from the signs the mall most of the kids at school went to. Since it was a holiday, all the stores were closed, and the place was empty.

Rin wandered past the stores, all of which had an eerie feel when they were deserted. He ignored them all and walked up the frozen escalator, finding his target just ahead: the _Sweet Factory_.

The doors were open and he found Amaimon rummaging through the store, half a dozen plastic bags filled to the point of bursting full of the sugary treats. He paused only slightly when he noticed Rin's presence.

"G'morning," he mumbled, too distracted by his scavenging. Rin felt sorry for the owner of the store; they wouldn't be making any money with this demon around.

Amaimon stopped suddenly, sniffing the air. He followed his nose all the way to Rin, sniffing from his mouth to his fingers like a dog. Rin chuckled, knowing what he was smelling, and pulled out a few of his cookies he'd set aside for this. (The last time he'd baked and Amaimon had smelled it on him, he'd gotten very…very…angry.) Amaimon pounced on the offering, accidentally getting some slobber on Rin's hand, though Rin didn't mind much. He'd always wanted a dog.

"There's a Dover demon, big, somewhere in the mall," he said, finally straightening up and licking his fingers.

Rin made a face; those things were _nasty_ looking; they looked more like aliens than anything. Their eyes were always big and orange, and they never blinked. It freaked him out, and he'd seen a lot of scary shit.

"Got it," he responded, grimacing, before turning to start the search.

He stayed on the upper level, figuring he could jump to the lower if he saw anything. It was an arduous process. It could be anywhere, and the mall was huge.

He sighed in gradual listlessness. He'd checked both the upper and lower levels, the parking lot, and the employee areas, and it wasn't anywhere to be found. In fact, there was no trace of the demon, which should have been impossible.

He approached the food court for the second time, wondering if Amaimon was watching him from somewhere and laughing, when the unmistakable racket of gunshots reached his ears. He jumped back, taking cover between the wall and a _Dippin' Dots_ cart just as a stray bullet bounced off the floor only a few inches away.

An inhuman shriek echoed throughout the complex, along with the crash of broken glass and men's shouts. _Shit._ The voices were getting closer, and the rounds shot by a semiautomatic were deafening. They weren't aimed at him, but they would be if he was seen.

He peeked over the edge of the cart, seeing the humans closing in around the demon, which managed to evade their attacks. They were hedging it towards the entrance and away from him, probably in the attempt to not destroy the whole building, and Rin saw his chance as the ones closest to him turned away to aim at the demon. He dove into the open, flying away from the scene, praying that he was silent and unseen as he made the sharp turn around the corner.

"It ran!" The voices followed him and he cursed again, willing his legs to move faster.

"Shit, don't let it get away!"

The footsteps followed him around the corner just as he threw himself into the hallway branching off towards the employee's area. He checked behind him momentarily, making sure none of them had seen him, and he stumbled right into someone. A gloved hand gripped his jaw, stopping the shout of surprise, and the figure pulled Rin into him. Rin struggled, his protests muffled by the hand. Another hand violently grabbed his body, holding him still.

"If you don't want to get caught, I suggest you _stay still_," the man threatened. The shouts of the men grew dangerously close and Rin desisted, falling still with a contemptible glare.

The man did not let go; rather, he pulled Rin closer to him, covering him with his white cloak.

"Don't worry; they won't be able to see us like this." Rin felt the man's facial hair and minty breath at his cheek, and he resisted the urge to wriggle away.

Bullets rained down at the entrance of the hallway, wounding the demon they were aiming to kill. The men chasing it came into view, and only the hand still covering his mouth kept in his pathetic moan of disbelief.

Yukio stepped closer to the demon, twin handguns trained on the demons head. Behind him his adoptive father reloaded his shotgun, followed by two other men and a woman with a sword.

The demon pranced around desperately, aware that it had no way out. Every time it threatened to bolt it received a bullet near or in its clawed feet. It was too big to fit down the way Rin had, but it turned towards him anyway, as if it could detect their presence.

It was ugly, its pale skin making it look like an overgrown, mutated human fetus. Beady orange eyes stared into the darkness, straight at Rin, as if it knew he was there.

_Masterrr…_

_Help me masterrr…_

The iris-less eyes pleaded with him, unblinking, until a single gunshot was fired. Rin saw the bullet enter the side of the head, blood splattering the clothes of the one who took the final shot. Yukio stepped closer to it, making sure he'd hit the mark.

"It's dead," his little brother confirmed, filling a vial with the demon's blood before the body started disintegrating. Shiro nodded, pleased with his son's results. They all eventually left, never aware of their audience.

Rin stood still, enraptured by the dead demon's eyes, even as the man uncovered him and stepped away.

"Are you shocked?" the man asked.

Rin finally broke away from the deceased's gaze to take in the man's appearance. Striped tights, a white cape with a matching top hat, and a cane. The sharp ears and teeth marked him as a demon, and the purple goatee completed the image, though whether he was trying to be a clown or an old school pimp, Rin wasn't sure.

"You may call me Mephisto," the man supplied unbidden. He tapped his cane to the ground and it burst into an umbrella, which he unfurled with a flourish. At his command all the overturned tables and broken glass righted themselves, fixing the mess the humans had left.

"What," he said, finding his voice, "was that?"

The man grinned, revealing completely his razor-sharp canines. "_That_ was a group of exorcists exorcising a demon."

Rin's eyes narrowed, but he knew better than to fly off the handle at someone so obviously powerful.

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it," he accused. "Why were Yukio and the old man there?"

"Mm~ well, as exorcists, of course it's their job do exterminate demons," he answered.

"Are you trying to tell me they do that for a living? That's impossible!" He struck his fist against the wall in anger, and ended up leaving an inch-deep hole.

"And yet, you can't deny what you witnessed, right?" Mephisto was grinning the whole time. "Tell me, Rin, haven't you noticed that you're…_different_ from other people?"

"Shut up." He glared.

"Didn't it ever occur to you that your family was aware of it, and knew the reason? Come now, you know they're smart enough to notice something like that. And yet, they never said one word to you about it, even when you were ostracized from everyone else because of it; I wonder why-"

"I said shut UP!" Rin grabbed the spotted collar of the man and thrust him against the wall, eyes livid. "Stop saying that shit!"

_It looks like some kind of satanic ritual…You're not into that stuff, right?_

Mephisto looked a bit surprised at Rin's reaction but didn't struggle. After a long minute of silence, Rin released him, stepping away again.

"Rin, I will not lie to you," he proclaimed boldly.

The boy scoffed. "Like I'd believe that bullshit."

The man actually looked serious. "I'm not lying; I have no reason to hide anything from you. And neither does Amaimon."

Rin perked up at the name. "You're with that guy too?"

"Yes; in fact, he's my younger brother. You'd be surprised how family lineages turn out."

"Hmm." Rin was still unconvinced, but Amaimon was…a positive constant, and had been for years. It was true that Amaimon had never lied to him, at least to his knowledge…but could he really trust this man on his word?

"So, what do you say?" Mephisto asked. "Do you want me to tell you who you really are?"

Rin couldn't see the harm…after all, if it was something outrageous he could just turn and leave. He didn't have to believe anything the man said.

"Tell me."

Mephisto grinned, magically producing a wine cooler, which he opened with a _pop._

"First, I have an offer I want to make you. See, I'm actually the principal at the school your brother is thinking of attending next year."

"High school?" Rin's brow furrowed. What did this have to do with anything. "I wasn't planning on continuing with school."

"Oh? But I was about to offer you a spot there, free of tuition."

Rin's made a face like he'd smelled something nasty. "I'm too dumb," he deadpanned.

The man laughed, going so far as to tilt his head back and lean against the wall. "Please, Rin, I've seen your test scores. The ones you've been hiding from your family, even from some of the faculty."

"How the hell did you find out about that?" he growled.

"Actually, it was an old teacher of yours that helped me out. With your scores, I could probably even move you up two grades without any trouble."

Mephisto was one of the only people, that he knew of, to discover this about him. Rin sighed defeated. "I don't want that."

The man pouted a bit at being rejected. "I'll give you some time to think about it. Now~?"

"Yeah, just tell me already," he said impatiently. "I'm getting tired of all this chitchat."

"Well, you're not human," Mephisto revealed, leaning against the wall to wait for his reaction. When there was none, he continued. "You're a demon." Still no reaction, Mephisto observed, a bit disgruntled. He'd been looking forward to more shouts of denial from the teen.

Rin scoffed. "I already knew that. Stop wasting my time."

"Oh my, you knew already?" Mephisto put his hand over his mouth in dramatic surprise.

He rolled his eyes. "You think I wouldn't notice that normal people aren't able to lift cars?" He turned to leave, sure that he wouldn't gain anything else from talking to the freak any longer.

"Well did you figure out that you're the son of Satan?" Rin stopped in his tracks: score one for Mephisto.

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't? Let me inform you! You are actually the bastard child of Satan and a human woman, a relationship condemned as unnatural and disgusting by demons and humans alike," he cooed romantically. "Oh but don't worry, your precious little brother is actually human. Unlike you!"

Rin studied the man for a second before turning to leave.

"Hey, wait, where are you going?" The pink- and white-clad man scampered after him.

"Home. I have to be back in time for dinner," he said matter-of-factly. He stopped abruptly, however, just as Mephisto caught up to him. The store window was clear, clean enough to show an accurate reflection in the right light. What Rin saw…

A likeness of himself, distorted in that his eyes were black when they should be white. Fangs poked out of his lips, his ears were well beyond an acceptable length for anything but a sci-fi cosplayer, and was that a tail?

"Do you believe me now, little brother? Oh!" he pulled a familiar yellow candy from his pocket. "This is from Amaimon." He waved his umbrella, created a small, rippling portal for himself. "I'll give you a few months to think about my offer!"

And then he was gone. Rin stood in shock for a few more minutes before he unwrapped the candy.

.

"Happy birthday Rin!" the clergymen chorused as he walked through the door. They all harassed him until they forced him to struggle through a round of loving strangulation-hugs.

He wasn't beat up or covered in blood so he'd arrived before his father and Yukio.

He still couldn't believe what he'd seen.

He forced a smile, determined not to bring down the festive mood in the house.

"Thanks everyone! I'm surprised you didn't burn the house down! And is that a real cake?" he teased, making the men laugh.

"Please accept our humble offerings, oh wise chef," Izumi said, playfully bowing to him.

"Izumi, don't feed his ego!" Maruta chastised.

They'd really outdone themselves this year, Rin had to admit. The giant banner reading _Merry Christmas_ hung for everyone who came in to see, stockings hung from every surface, and the Christmas tree was completely covered with decorations, candy canes, and the occasional gingerbread man. He heard the door opening.

"Happy birthday Yukio! Merry Christmas!" The men chorused again. They'd probably spent some time practicing beforehand.

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Shiro said joyously, Yukio repeating the greeting. They went through another round of hugs with the two newcomers, all laughing and smiling, as if they didn't have a care in the world. As if his father and brother hadn't been out hunting demons an hour before.

Rin observed them from off to the side, realizing that if Yukio and his father were in that kind of thing, the others probably were too, since they all claimed to work together. Sudden anger twisted his face into a scowl. Everyone was in on it? Everyone was lying to him? For how long? His whole life?

"Rin," Yukio called, noticing him not taking part. "Is something wrong?" He approached his brother, poking a finger in his cheek. Rin started, pulling back from his younger's suddenly close proximity.

"Huh?"

Yukio smiled patiently. "It's Christmas; come join us." He made to offer a hug to Rin but stopped, seeing something in his expression.

Rin paused a moment, a million things going through his head. This whole thing…would he really be able to go on like nothing had changed?

_Didn't it ever occur to you that your family was aware of it, and knew the reason?_

_You're the son of Satan._

His little brother hesitated, indecision on his handsome face, the face Rin knew better than his own. Rin knew that though most girls found the moles on his face attractive, he detested them with a passion, always paranoid that another one had shown up on his body. He knew that he held a secret passion for both shounen and shoujo manga, and also that he had a super secret stack of yaoi manga hidden where he thought Rin wouldn't find it (Rin helps clean the house; of course he found it). He knew his exact glasses prescription, his height, his favorite meal, hell, even his first kiss...

Could he still trust him?

Rin pulled his brother into a hug, ignoring the faint expression of surprise. He nuzzled his face into the taller boy's neck, taking in the familiar scent as the hug was reciprocated.

Rin was right in his previous assessment: Yukio's form was far too solid for a simple bookworm. He despised the younger's height as much as he took pleasure in it; Rin's arms fit around his neck just right, and he seemed the perfect height to melt into. He felt a something nagging at him from inside, pulling at his heartstrings, if he chose to sound that cliched.

The hug was warm and giving; Rin sighed, content. It made him feel more at home than the actual house did.

"Happy birthday, Yukio," he mumbled into his shirt.

He didn't know whether it was wise to trust them, but they were his family. Even if they all lied to him…even if his own brother knowingly kept the truth from him, it wasn't like he could give up on them.

He just had to trust that they wouldn't give up on him, either.

* * *

_Are you all surprised? It's only been a day! I'm surprised too. Thank you all for reviewing! They inspired me...to completely ignore all my homework this weekend. Seriously. If you have any pity, send some help; what the heck is a parametric equation? What can I write about the isolation theme in Crime and Punishment? It's almost midnight, and I have yet to start any of it...but I finished the chapter!_

_Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed my pathetic attempt at an action scene. I hope to keep working on this, but holy crap school sucks. Thanks again for reading this far!_


	4. Chapter 4

Yukio Okumura was a gifted person. He was intelligent, he was good at sports, he could write with both hands, and he had one hell of a poker face. (The last one he believed was absolutely necessary, especially with who he lived with.) Girls everywhere flocked to him like bees to honey. Guys oscillated between questioning their sexuality in his presence to despising him for his apparent perfection.

Yukio was a gifted person, but he certainly had enough problems to make up for it.

He had to be up early nearly every day, and was up late nearly every night. He was constantly studying, and when he wasn't studying he was practicing training working out, always trying to get stronger. He didn't have much of a social life when he stopped to think about it, but then again he didn't really want one. Who would he go out with? Shura? Not likely. He had better things to do.

And if that wasn't enough to stress out about, there was the matter of hiding his whole double life from his brother.

Yes, if Yukio had to summarize the worst of his problems, he would do it in one word: Rin.

It wasn't that Yukio _disliked_ his twin; in fact, he enjoyed the time they spent together, however rare. It was just that, well, he never _did anything._

It was something Yukio couldn't understand. Rin would miss weeks of school at a time and not care even a little. He came off as lazy and stupid, and all he ever seemed to do was get into fights. Didn't he understand that the fact that he was even alive was a miracle? That at any moment he could be killed simply for who he was?...No, of course he didn't. And it was better that way, for everyone involved, but sometimes Yukio wished he would just _figure it out_ that he had so much at stake, and every second he slacked off he was gambling with his life. If he didn't change soon, he would most likely die.

Yukio didn't know what he would do if he was left alone.

* * *

The ears were okay. They might get in the way when getting a haircut or something, but he could deal with it.

The teeth, too; if they were too sharp he'd probably end up cutting his lip, or biting through silverware, but it wouldn't be that much of a hassle.

But there was no way –_no way_- he could live with a tail.

To begin with, where would he even put it? Something like that, if it moved around, would be pretty noticeable if he stuck it in his pants, and he liked them tight anyway so he'd have to change his wardrobe to even attempt it, which was just a pain. It's not like he could just leave it hanging out; what if someone stepped on it?

Rin surreptitiously checked behind him, making sure the dreaded appendage hadn't suddenly appeared without his knowledge.

After the last incident, Rin had been expecting a dramatic transformation, of himself or in his family. He expected everything to change, for everyone to find out what he had been hiding, for a hoard of demons to attack him and bring him to Gehenna, for him to suddenly wake up with a tail and a taste for human flesh, or something. But nothing happened.

It nearly the end of summer already; their graduation from middle school had gone without much comment. Rin had shown up the last day, to Yukio's utter surprise, to pick up his records and diploma, and that was it. Even after that everything had been eerily normal. It was making him anxious.

The only thing that seemed to have changed is that Rin knew what those frequent cram class trips his brother went on were really about…

From beside him Amaimon bit his lip in indecision. Cherry or watermelon? Maybe blue raspberry? There were too many choices. Stupid capitalism.

"Did you really drag me along just to buy sweets?" Rin asked, impatiently tapping his fingers against the shelf.

"Hmm." The demon was too engrossed in his predicament to answer properly. There was only so much he could carry, first of all, and even if he got Rin to help him it wouldn't be enough to have them all.

"Oi." Rin tried again to get his attention, to no avail.

Amaimon squatted down to clearly see into the lower shelves, resting his arms on his knees for balance.

"Hey, Amaimon," Rin began calmly, lifting his foot in preparation. The demon took no notice. "LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" He kicked the man, sending him and the armful of candy he'd been carrying sprawling over the floor.

Amaimon was still for only a second, his body prone, before his body began to rise by itself. He rose as if invisible strings were lifting him up, leveling him out so his feet were below him. Rin immediately regretted his actions when he saw the demon's face.

Though his dirty combat boots were several inches above the ground, the eighth king of hell rushed at him, disregarding any laws of gravity mortals had to obey. Rin turned tail and ran, but could not get away nearly fast enough. The two tumbled over each other, knocking over the dinky displays lining the aisles.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Amaimon caught Rin's throat between his hands, squeezing to the point that a normal human would have already died. The demon surveyed the sight under him; the boy writhed under the stronger demon, grappling at his neck in the failing attempt to free himself. Never was he so interesting as when he was struggling for his life.

"Let… me… go!" Rin growled in between wheezing in as much as air the hold on his throat allowed. His feet managed to find purchase on the waxed floors and he arched his back, knocking Amaimon off his chest just enough to throw his legs skyward and twist his ankles around the man's neck. The head covered with pointy green hair smashed into the ground, leaving an indentation in the hard tiles. Rin followed the momentum, landing on Amaimon's back and digging his knees into sharp ribs.

The younger straddled the demon while silently celebrating his victory; he'd never gotten the upper hand before. The demon was powerful, however, and even Rin's strength wasn't enough to hold him for long. He was thrown to the floor again, both of them wrestling to get above the other.

"Hey! You guys better knock it off before I call the cops!" a middle-aged employee threatened from far down the aisle. The two carried on with their business, completely ignoring the interruption. "Didn't you hear me? I said I'd call the police! Stop messing up the st-augh! Ah, AhhhHHH! "

Amaimon snapped his fingers and the worker, who'd begun advancing towards the pair, found himself pulled off his feet, as if a rope were attached to the worn, too-small belt squeezing his midsection. The screaming human was dragged forward and, just before he reached the demon, the plane of existence contracted on itself and was ripped open, revealing a spiraling vortex-like maw that sucked the man in whole.

Rin, distracted by the spectacle, ended up with a mouth full of floor again, but he only turned his head to the side to gawk at the space the employee had been only a moment before.

"You didn't kill him, right?" he asked somewhat worriedly. Surely there were cameras and witnesses; a murder scandal would doubtlessly make Rin's life harder than it needed to be.

"He'll be back in a few hours" was the unconcerned answer. Amaimon finally left his place on top of Rin, allowing the latter to rise with a groan.

"Help me carry this and I won't kill you." The demon offered him a convenient sack, all thoughts of the previous fight gone.

"I'm not your bitch, you know," Rin stated, glaring at his mentor before taking the bag. Together they filled four of them to the brim with various sweets. Another snap of Amaimon's fingers had the lights flickering and the wall outlets sparking, the aftereffect of messing with the video cameras, erasing proof of their presence. At least there weren't any others inside the store at that time.

* * *

"Hey, isn't it risky if we're seen together like this?" Rin asked, warily taking in the curious stares from people they passed by. Most of them probably thought the demon was a cosplayer or something. "Why are we taking the snail route anyway?"

Amaimon took his time finishing off a bag of M&M's, his abnormally long tongue shooting into the bag and picking up the pieces one by one. "The exorcists are all busy right now." He threw the empty bag to the floor, and Rin stooped to pick it up with a grumble, tossing it in one of the plentiful garbage cans littering the streets.

"So there's a big threat that requires all of them?" Rin pondered. "Where are we going, then?" They had seemingly been wandering the streets of the city, which was certainly odd. Usually Amaimon gave him a target and disappeared. He rarely stayed around long enough to confirm the kill, let alone to take a _walk_ with him.

"Nowhere." Amaimon seemed not to notice the teen's annoyance with the unreasonable answer. They came upon an enclosed park, the imposing barbed tips of the fence along with the dense trees and shrubbery within the park marking it as dark and unwelcoming if it weren't for the lustrous and abundantly blooming cherry blossom trees lining the interior walkway. They entered through the main gate without conflict as the park seemed to be all but deserted.

Rin weighed the pros and cons of demanding a straight answer he probably wouldn't get either way. Besides, the demon had always been rather capricious, his motives as hard to understand as his actions themselves, and Rin was used to it, kind of. Amaimon had pretty much taken him in when he was rejected by everyone else, when even his own family didn't believe him.

Someday, Rin would turn into a demon. Even then he could feel it, something within him, biding its time until it was unleashed. There wasn't anything he could do to stop it, and he was able to accept that.

But, as he knew very well, he lived in a house full of exorcists. His father, his brother, the people he grew up with, they all killed demons for a living. Demons like the one he would become. Would they hunt him like an animal? Betray and kill him. Who would it be to take the last shot, Shiro? Or his little brother, so adept with those guns of his.

He was alive right now, could live with his family normally despite the fact that he was a monster, not entirely human. But Amaimon was with him _because_ of the demon he would become. It was hard to read a demon with minimal emotion, but they were able to work together in their odd relationship, and both were content. Amaimon had rarely criticized him, had barely even noticed his shortcomings. It was reassuring to have someone so constant to rely on, so unlike everyone else in his life, even if that constant was directed by an ulterior motive.

The day was mercifully windy, breaths of air guiding stray petals and leaves to kiss their skin, a refreshingly short combatant to the unrelenting heat dragging the moisture from their bodies. Rin noticed but did not care to wonder that the trees shouldn't have been in bloom. The atmosphere was extremely relaxed, as if opium were coursing through his veins rather than blood.

"We're…" Rin began as the other planted himself in the grass, "kind of like brothers, aren't we?"

Another gust of air tickled Rin's nose, and he struggled against the sneeze threatening his sinuses. He held his breath, waiting for an answer to his odd question.

"We share the same father."

"Hmm." Rin joined him on the ground, leaning against a convenient tree. "Should I start calling you 'big brother'? 'Onii-san'?" A low chuckle made Rin snap his head in amazement.

"Then you shall be 'little brother', little brother." The unexpected response was made in jest, and Rin could only blink stupidly as the corners of Amaimon's mouth turned up only slightly. The man's monotonous poker face was broken, and even his glaring cat-irises seemed almost friendly. In all the years Rin had known him, he had never acted this way.

Rin inspected the demon suspiciously, eyes narrowing in confusion. He leaned forward and planted a finger in between the too-short eyebrows, poking, prodding, making sure he was real. After a second, though, he fell back against the tree trunk with a huff. It was impossible to tell what the demon was thinking, so he might as well just… go with the flow.

Silence fell over them for a while, Rin absorbed in his thoughts and Amaimon absorbed in finishing off as much of the contraband-candy as he could.

"Brother said that school is starting soon," Amaimon said, breaking the silence.

Rin frowned. "I guess so? Yukio's already started packing."

"Are you going to take brother's offer?"

Ah. So that's what it was about.

Rin groaned, running a hand into his hair. "Why does it have to be school?" he complained. "Anything else, a church, a bakery, the last fucking level of hell, I could have dealt with it."

He didn't want to go, that much was for certain. He didn't want to spend the next four years essentially locked up, playing someone else's game. And he especially didn't want to go to the same school as Yukio; he'd had enough of that, thank you very much.

A moment passed, colored by the demon's amusement.

Rin sighed, dropping his head back against the trunk so he could look up. The true blue sky was only a few shades lighter than his eyes. There was an ambient squawking of pigeons nearby just before he saw a flock of them fly away, their shrinking forms visible through the breaks in the foliage. He envied their ability to just flap their wings and fly away whenever they wanted.

"It's not like I have a choice, right?" he stated more than asked. "I don't really have anywhere else to go. I can't live at home forever."

"You have another choice," Amaimon offered, surprising Rin yet again.

"Yeah? What's that?" He wasn't expecting much, really. He'd already nearly resigned himself to the unwanted fate of high school.

"Brother wants to use you," he blatantly stated. Rin blanched at the forwardness, even as he knew he preferred the truth straight-up rather than covered in the sugar Amaimon craved so much. "But the Vatican is watching this area too closely. If you're willing to work directly for him you can forego the schooling."

"Cooperate, huh…" Rin shifted his gaze to the ground, twirling a blade of grass between his fingers in thought. "I'd pretty much be doing the same thing as I am now?"

"Do you agree?"

A slow nod from the boy conveyed his consent, hesitant yet resilient. The demon rose from his place on the ground, business seemingly complete. Rin followed his lead unquestioningly.

"Then there's one last test from me before that happens," Amaimon warned. He waited until Rin nodded again, albeit warily this time, before continuing. "Somewhere in the park, someone is going to be possessed. Find him and send the demon responsible back to hell."

Was it really the last time? Was that sadness he felt? Rin dismissed it, getting his mind on the mission at hand. "I can handle it," he said, certain of his capabilities. He turned to leave, picking a random quadrant of the park to start the search.

"Wait, little brother." The use of the term had him reeling back quicker than usual.

Amaimon's face was as serious as it was going to get, his crystal blue eyes boring into the boy's.

"If this works, I won't be able to see you like this for a long time." The demon held his hand out, palm up, dangerously black nails unthreatening. Rin reciprocated the gesture, tentatively placing his own hand in the other's, shocked when the icy fingers closed around his and twisted into something of a handshake.

Rin's eyebrows furrowed together. "I don't understand," he confessed.

Amaimon's eyebrows likewise moved together. "I thought this was the action humans use to say farewell to each other-a hug, or something like that."

Rin blinked in confusion for probably the fifth time that day before relaxing with a laugh.

"You mean this, then," he said, voice full of mirth. He pulled on their attached hands and wrapped his free arm around the other's shoulders, bringing them closer together. Eventually the demon mirrored the action, movements unsure as if it were the first time attempting something so…human.

To say it was awkward would be an understatement. Amaimon was all bony, jagged edges, certainly not cuddle-worthy, and it was made all the more awkward by the fact that Amaimon hadn't let go of their joined hands. After a few more seconds Rin stepped away slightly, dropping all their point of contact.

Amaimon looked as confused as he did going in. "How does an embrace convey a farewell?"

Rin laughed. "It shows you care about them, or something like that."

Half-lidded eyes blinked at him. "Humans have such ridiculous habits." He picked up the remaining bags of illegal goods and Rin watched him leave, somehow feeling that that they left on good terms.

* * *

"I'm telling you, it's easy! Play it right and you only need one date, a couple bucks to make her happy, and _bam_-'Happy ending'!"

The group collectively laughed as the apparent leader rummaged through his sagging pockets for another bolt. He loaded it into his illegal crossbow, signaling to the others to _shh_ so the birds wouldn't be scared away too quickly.

The boy in charge liked playing on what people might call 'the wrong side of the tracks'. His hair was dyed white, his ears well-used pin cushions for metal studs and bars, and his attitude that of a dictator accustomed to power.

He'd gotten the weapon from his father; through certain situations he'd come into some blackmail material that could ruin his father's career. As a prominent political figure, his father really couldn't have any scandals on his hands, so he promised to keep quiet in return for a few items most kids his age weren't able to get ahold of. The crossbow was one of them. It was only fair that what he was denied as a son by his father was made up by a means of his choosing.

Shiratori took aim at the top of the metal wiring of the fence, where seeds had been laid out as bait. After a few patient moments, a black and white flecked pigeon alighted on the twisted wires, pecking at the fodder. He waited a few seconds longer until two other birds had joined the first to take the shot. The purposely black tip of the bolt shot into the animal's wing, pinning it to the fence, and the boy wished he had thought of lighting it on fire beforehand. The other two lucky birds escaped in a flutter of cawed warnings and feathers.

"Daaamn!" One of the other boys knocked his fist admiringly on Shiratori's shoulder. Yes, they _admired_ him. They _wanted to be like_ him. The white-haired boy gave a wicked grin, outwardly playing his part as he loaded another bolt into the hinge. He knew they were only close to him because he was rich.

Isolated as they were, they didn't expect anyone to come looking for them, and this was made worse with the cluttered noise of the other boy's raucousness and the bird's desperate flaps and screams. It was annoying; Shiratori pointed his weapon at the bird just as an unfamiliar lean shape took form in his peripheral. His finger was already pressing down the trigger when he felt the blow to his head. The shot was knocked off course, pinning the bird's other violently struggling wing to the fence.

Shiratori's two lackeys stood frozen, staring as the person who'd so easily taken out their pseudo-god ignored their presence completely and approached the injured animal. The pigeon's dying screams were dreadful, grating on the ears. There were thousands, millions of birds like it. There was no way it would survive, but no one would notice anyway. The newcomer, his foreign blue eyes shining with something like compassion, gently took the birds neck between his thumb and index finger, and, with a confident motion, twisted, breaking its neck in one try.

The person, perhaps noticing the useless stares, turned to the gawkers. Eyes wide, they ran with their tails between their legs, dogs abandoning their master, who was only just recovering from his hit.

"Kuhk," he wiped the blood that had dripped into his mouth, examining the other's shorter stature, assessing the danger and finding it lacking. Shiratori was taller and thicker, and would be sure to win if this guy wanted trouble. He felt the confidence of superiority steadying his feet though he was still dizzy.

"Who the hell're you?" He paused, squinting at the other. "Wait…you're the guy I've been hearing about on the streets. The crazy freak jumping off of buildings an' shit…" His already slanted eyes narrowed, trying to remember.

The newcomer set his sights on the deceased bird one last time and pulled the bolts out of its body almost as an afterthought, letting the thing fall to the floor. He began approaching Shiratori, bolt in hand.

"Rin Okumura!" The white-haired boy grinned, thinking that by knowing the other's identity he would have the advantage, and maybe be able to scare him off. Rin's smirk outleveled his grin, though, and, with a barely noticeable flick of his hand, the weapon found itself lodged in the other boy's upper arm.

"Augh! You, you shot me!" Opposite hand sheltering the wound, he tried retreating backwards, only to find the perpendicular side of the fence to his back. With no easy exit, he began to feel very, very afraid. Rin's predatory eyes followed his every move, undressing his actions and leaving him exposed.

It only took another second for Rin to fly the short distance and catch the boy by the throat, heaving him up so the chain links cut into his back. He struggled, one hand grappling with the arm at his neck and the other pulling the last bolt from his jeans, pulling back to use it. The effort was in vain, however, as Rin was easily both aware of the motion and able to catch the mutinous hand, squeezing the wrist until there was a satisfying _crack_ and the weapon was dropped.

"Kuh-th' fuck!" Shiratori choked. Dimly he caught the image of red in his vision, Rin's scuffed boots shifting to block any attempt to escape.

"So, you like killin' little birdies, huh?" The dangerous words were spoken into his ear, barely audible over the fuzziness of unconsciousness threatening to take over.

Desperately the captive grabbed a handful of dark hair, trying to pull the whole set off his head. Rin shook him free, though, growling as a good chunk left his head. Annoyed, he brought out the other bolt he'd retrieved from the dead pigeon and jammed it through Shiratori's previously uninjured arm. The tip of the bolt caught on a link of the fence, further trapping him.

"Yeah, doesn't feel too good, does it?" Rin spoke through the other's pained gasps. "Now," he pushed up further, earning a particularly loud cry, "why don't you come on out, so we can get this business over with?"

"Ugh-hah, w-what are you…sayin'?..." Shiratori labored to ask

"Bullshit. I can _smell_ you all over this kid." He grinned sadistically, making sure to give off the effect of a crazed man out for blood. "You wouldn't want your precious little host to die, would you?"

His threat had the desired effect. Shiratori began coughing up blood, his body heaving as his lungs strained and flooded with liquid. His skin, already a pale tone from his cushy rich life, turned sickly yellow startlingly fast and his eyes rolled back so that only the whites were visible. Rin couldn't help the smug look he bore towards the convulsing body.

He could feel the exact moment the boy became completely overshadowed by the demon. His satisfaction was interrupted however with the pattern of footsteps, soft at first but growing increasingly louder.

The shot came before the first men broke through the cover of the dense trees. Rin stared in shock as the blood splattered across his face and his captive, just barely coming back to consciousness, suddenly dropping into dead weight. The hole in the white-haired teen's head spurted blood before relaxing into a steady outlet of liquid.

"Step away from him with your hands over your head!" The order came from the first of the armed men to reach him. Soon many others joined him in a practiced semicircle, trapping Rin next to the fence.

Rin slowly released the body and nimbly stepped back, wary of a backlash. He raised his hands to rest on his head, cooperating. Is this what being arrested was like? Dimly Rin recalled that he was supposed to be read his rights sometime soon, if this was legitimate human law enforcement…which it probably wasn't. How was he supposed to get anything done with those damn exorcists meddling in everything?

The man who'd spoken shouldered his firearm and approached the body, warily avoiding Rin. He checked the pulse and nodded at the result.

"Stand down, stand down!" A dreadfully familiar voice shouted, gaining the obedience of all the men. They immediately lowered their weapons. "Who the hell called that shot? He was supposed to be taken alive!"

Rin knew he only had a brief second before everything went to shit. He carefully schooled his expression, widening his eyes and deepening his breaths to a stuttering shudder. He glued his eyes to the dead body still hanging by the bolt stuck in the fence, remembering the first time he'd seen someone human leave this world in death.

"_Why are you crying?" Amaimon had asked. He truly did not understand. "Everyone will end up there someday. Even you."_

"_But it was my fault, I killed him! I–who am I to decide that his time was up?"_

"_He was already possessed, he would have killed you if you hadn't. But you did. That's the kind of world we live in."_

…Yes, shell-shocked was something he could manage very well.

Shiro Fujimoto shouldered through the ranks, completely incensed and ready to tear into the first person he could blame for this mess. He was expecting a cowering low-rank begging for his life and position; what he was met with, however, was the sight of his oldest, very human, son covered in blood, standing before the corpse of a nearly-possessed kid.

"Oh, god."

* * *

Shiro sighed in frustration for the tenth time that night, downing the rest of his beer. Dirty feet rested irresponsibly on top of the paperwork on his desk. His chair was tilted back at a sixty degree angle and rested on the opposite wall.

"Isn't there anything else we can do?" With his free hand he carded through his regrettably thinning hair, repeating the motion in agitation.

"Not within reason," Mephisto replied. The demon sat comfortably in his plush love seat, enjoying his cup of tea in luxury. "Trust me, Rin will be completely safe, safer than he would be here."

"I understand but…does he really need to go? Sending him away could make the problem worse, especially if he acts out, right?" He was almost pleading with the man. "He's not-I mean, he's never even been out of the country before."

Taking another sip of his tea, Mephisto mourned the human need to repeat things that have already been made clear. He would humor the Paladin, though.

"I think your…son is a lot more capable than you think he is. As it is now, Rin will definitely become aware of the other world, and of who he is." Oh, he loved those little white lies. Moderately sized white lies. White lies of every size. No harm meant, right? "Both the local demons and the Vatican will hunt him down. The demons are obviously already becoming sensitive to him, that much is clear from yesterday's incident, and if he's connected the Order is going to be suspicious."

Shiro's eyes suddenly felt very dry, the late and stressful nights taking their toll on him. He blinked rapidly, wishing he could go back a couple years, back to the time when Rin was still a harmless little kid, when Yukio was innocent of the harsher realities of the world they lived in, and when he could at least pretend to be the father the two deserved.

Leaving the comfort of his seat, Mephisto crossed the distance to his friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's for the best, Shiro," he said.

"I just want to protect him."

Mephisto's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, betraying his usual clown façade. The man needed to relax once in a while, but his job wouldn't let him. The demon's fingers moved slowly, rubbing a full circle around the collarbone.

Tired eyes looked up to him.

"I'm not as young as I used to be," Shiro said somewhat sadly.

"I know," he replied. Lips framed by dark purple facial hair tightened into a bare frown. He removed his hand, straightening, returning to the professional mask he bore so well.

"Don't worry, your precious _son_ will be thoroughly protected. He'll be in the place the Vatican has the least amount of power. No harm will come to him," he promised.

Eventually the Paladin nodded his consent, closing his eyes.

"You know, I never planned to be a father. I thought kids were little demons sent by the devil himself." Shiro laughed somewhat deprecatingly. "I guess I was sort of right."

"Hmm? But you're such a good daddy," the demon complimented. Shiro scoffed. Bullshit. Look where his sons were ending up, after all.

"They don't deserve this. I just…want them to live."

Keen eyes observed the man's exhaustion.

"But do they know that?"

Shiro exhaled, not answering. After a moment Mephisto decided it was time to leave.

Once outside he pulled a bedazzled phone from his pocket, flipping it open and dialing a familiar number.

"What did you need?" the voice on the other line asked.

Mephisto's lips curled upwards. "Make the preparations; we're sending him to Madison."

* * *

"Rin!" The call made him pause, halfway out the door, plane ticket in hand. Yukio had called him, rushing through the house to catch him. It was surprising, to say the least, and not completely unwanted, but the circumstances mixed in their normally strained brotherhood with the bitterness of leaving his family.

Rin observed his twin, finding amusement in the usually so prepared teen all flustered and rushing. Faintly the thought that he would miss his little brother crossed into his mind, but he determinedly ignored it, favoring thoughts of the present over those of the unknown future.

Present thoughts like how Yukio's dark hair reflected the dim light of the house differently than his, shining more brown instead of blue, and that having his own room probably wasn't worth it. _You can't think like that, Rin._

"Shouldn't you have left by now?" Rin asked, caught off guard.

"It's not that far, compared, and I told them I would be late." Yukio hesitated, eyes finding the pristine paper between Rin's fingers, before seeming to come to a decision. "I didn't want to leave before seeing you."

Their eyes met, Yukio's deep with meaning hidden within the teal irises, Rin's sapphire lightened by cautious understanding. The air was charged with things they wouldn't, couldn't say. After a second Rin broke away, transferring his gaze to the floor.

"You saw me this morning," he pointed out. He felt the chill of the wind at his back, flowing through the open entrance, reminding him that he had to be somewhere.

"I know." Hesitantly Yukio crossed the distance between then, a hand coming to scratch his neck abashedly. His pale skin looked almost fluorescent under the weak light, but the color only emphasized the dark lashes framing his eyes, now fluttering anywhere but at Rin, and the pale pink of his lips, pressed firmly together. Rin wondered how anyone that had the same face as him could look so…_beautiful_.

"Look, we both should be gone by now," Rin half turned back to the door, resolving to get the heck out of there before he made a fool of himself. "I mean, it's not like we're never going to see each other-"

"Be careful," Yukio suddenly broke through, causing the other to turn back. He looked like he wanted to say more, but he didn't.

Rin studied his younger brother for a moment, trying to view the words objectively, from his brother, an Exorcist.

But that would make it…a warning?

"…Yukio," he swallowed, mouth dry. "Do you trust me?"

Anxious silence met his words. Rin opened his mouth to speak but Yukio cut him off again.

"Yes. I do."

The tidal wave of doubt rushed over him but washed away easily, leaving only small puddles of itself behind, like the dredges at the bottom of a coffee cup. But it was enough to nourish the little seedlings of mistrust.

Rin wanted to believe his brother, he did. But he couldn't deny the facts and the fact was that Yukio was lying to him, even in that instance. By pretending to be a normal student, by pretending that Rin was a normal human…he'd been lying for a very long time, and if it weren't for Mephisto, Rin likely wouldn't have ever realized it. And it made Rin sick that he'd been the same, lying to his family, and all just to protect himself.

He bit his lip, sucking on a chapped part, before nodding resolutely.

"Then, I'll trust you, too," he said, giving a small smile.

Afterwards neither of them could tell if he'd been telling the truth.

* * *

Well, it's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. Thank you to everyone that's still reading! And I'm very, very thankful to everyone that's reviewed. I'm looking for a better name for this story, does anyone have any ideas? Oh and don't worry, there will be more rinxyukio in the future, for those of you that are getting antsy. By the way, I made a mistake(I'm sure there've been many, actually) about the timeline in the last chapter. Both this and the last chapter happened around Rin and Yukio's fifteenth year. Hmm, and here's a bit of the next chapter:

_"My job isn't to look into murders."_

_"We're looking to have you promoted; think of this as a test."_

_..."You sent Rin away to protect him from this, right?" Yukio accused._

_"We can't do that anymore. We need him...I'd like to introduce our specialist from overseas. He's trained in a great variety of demonology sects as well as otherworldy murders...Rin Okumura, as well as-"  
_

_"Yo, Sammie!"_


	5. Chapter 5

"Yo, Sammie!" The cheerful voice greeted him. "How _you_ doin?" They both laughed, knowing she actually didn't give a shit about him.

"So, how's our dear youngest brother doing?" Mephisto twirled a shiny pen in his free hand, the other one occupied by his gem-encrusted cell phone. Losing interest in the pen, he switched to fiddling with the doggy keychain hanging from the device.

"Ha! He's a complete riot! Makes me wonder where the heck you picked him up from," the brusque yet feminine voice on the other end replied.

"Is that so?"

"Mmhm." The voice paused and he could hear a slurping sound, most likely her eating those disgusting processed cow secretions she liked to call yogurt. "It's hilarious; he actually has _morals._ He'll cut demons up like paper but won't even lay a hand on 'em if they're still human. More like a double standard, actually."

"So unlike yourself, am I right?" Mephisto purred.

"Oh, don't flatter me," she giggled like a teenage girl. "Anyway, we're down in Mexico right now, heading for South America. Oh my god, you should've seen the look on his face when he found his first Chupacabra!" Of course, the Vatican was powerful nearly everywhere. The only way to get off their radar was to move fast enough and far enough that they couldn't be detected.

"So, do you think he's ready?"

"Absolutely," she answered without hesitation. "You know, he was the second fastest person to figure out who I am?"

Mephisto grinned; things were going exactly how he'd planned them. "Get ready to send him back over here."

"Aww, I have to get rid of him so soon?"

"I hope you haven't gotten too attached, Madison…Things don't usually end well for the other side, you know. We need him in one piece."

"I know, I know. He's still a brat, anyways. Not much more I can do with him."

"Try to wait until he's at least an adult by human standards, please."

* * *

A year into his high school career, Yukio Okumura was, as usual, at the top of his class. It wasn't even hard for him, balancing school and his job as an exorcist. In fact he found it almost dull, that he had fallen into an easy routine he could complete in his sleep.

As a middle first class exorcist at the age of sixteen, he was a prodigy. People twice his age looked up to him as he surpassed them without even breaking a sweat. Not to say that his life wasn't stressful, because it was, but he found that he worked well under these conditions and they were actually much less taxing than when he lived at home.

Passing through the well-lit hallways of his dorm at True Cross Academy, he acknowledged that, without the need to hide the more controversial part of his life from Rin, he had a lot more freedom and a lot less worries.

Knocking once on the door of his dorm room, he waited a second for the response he knew wouldn't come before passing through the entrance. His roommate, Ryuji Suguro, was usually out running at that time. They'd been paired for convenience as Suguro was an exwire, training to become an exorcist, and both of them were serious about their studies. Both of them were up and about at odd hours so it worked well.

He sighed as he dropped his things on the floor by his bed, thinking over his earlier thought. He thought he'd adjusted to living without his brother. It's not like they saw much of each other before, but it was definitely a shock to be cut off so suddenly. Or at least that's what he rationalized to himself, as he found himself, even a year later, thinking of his brother, wondering where he was, missing his delicious cooking and sincere smile.

Awhile later he felt his phone vibrating–a text to come in for a mission briefing. He shook his head at Mephisto's laziness. Honestly, what if his phone was off?

"This is your assignment," Mephisto handed him a large manila envelope as he walked into the demon's office with the aid of enchanted keys. He took a seat by the large desk, flipping the seal of the envelope and taking out the stack of papers. Halfway through the first page he was already frowning.

"There's been a string of murders in the past two weeks. All the information's in there. You're in charge of exterminating the demon responsible…with the Paladin's oversight, of course."

"My job isn't to look into murders." He usually waited until someone told him what to kill, and then killed it. He flipped through the rest of the pages, seeing photos of the bodies and police reports filed in. "And this doesn't look in any way connected to a demon."

"There's a bubble of vacancies at the higher ranks caused by the recent rise in lethal demon activity," Mephisto explained somewhat vaguely.

"Investigations wouldn't have been affected by that."

"They aren't, but you are. We're looking to have you promoted; think of this as a test."

Yukio nodded in understanding. "So you're planning on bumping me up to fill the bubble, so the small group at the top doesn't gain too much authority and the balance of power is kept." He paused, looking over the information once more before decisively getting to his feet. "That doesn't change the fact that these murders aren't relevant to us. If you want my input as an exorcist then my only suggestion is to let the police handle it." He placed the envelope and all the papers on Mephisto's desk in a neat pile. "Now, if you don't have a _real_ mission for me, then I'll be going –I was supposed to be studying right now, anyway," he muttered the last part, annoyed that his time had been wasted.

Mephisto's _tsk_ing brought his attention back to the man. "Why so eager to leave, Yukio? School only started a few days ago, you should still have free time… Especially since you've overlooked some very crucial details regarding the demon connection…" The demon slid the file back to the boy, prompting him to take it back, which he did begrudgingly. "Very good," he cooed. "The matter has already been investigated thoroughly by the Order, to ease your earlier worries. Your task is to simply find and eliminate the threat."

"If I still don't find anything," Yukio warned.

"My dear," Mephisto said with faux affection, "I would spend more time lecturing you on respecting you elders, but I think you'll have a lot more to worry about soon." He ushered the teen out of his office, shooing at him like a fly.

* * *

"I'm sorry, but I can't authorize this," the Paladin refused, closing the file resolutely. The middle second class exorcist had been pushing his view for half an hour and unfortunately didn't show signs of running out of fuel.

"This target is a danger to the city! We can have it wiped out in less than an hour." He was familiar to Shiro, a man that had lost his son in a demon attack some years back. It was unusual for exorcists to start out as adults; most of the new recruits were teens that had a family connection to the Order.

"You will refrain from referring to the demon as a target unless it has been slated for extermination," Shiro ordered. "And it hasn't been, and it won't be. Your information is incomplete at best. I cannot allow you to hunt down a demon that is not a threat to its environment." He stood from his seat, assuming the full authority his position gave him. This was his territory, the ornate gilding of the desk and the surrounding room gleaming with the power vested in him as brightly as the gun powder igniting from his weapon of choice in the field. "Unless you can prove it to me first, I'm going to have to assume that there is no reason to kill this demon. And unless you can give that proof to me at this instance, you are dismissed."

The finality of his words was unmistakable and even the exorcist's stubbornness wasn't enough to grant him the courage to defy the Paladin. A muttered "Yes, sir" was all he got from the man before he stomped from the room, doors flying wide to grant him leave. As he passed the threshold and disappeared the familiar form of Shiro's youngest son came into sight, looking slightly disgruntled at the rude exit. Shiro motioned to shut the doors behind him.

"Unhappy employee?" Yukio asked rhetorically. He stepped into the room, taking his customary place at the other side of the desk.

Shiro issued a heavy sigh, dropping into the cushioned, high back of his chair. "Just another exorcist with high ambitions and not much to back it up. I'm betting he just stumbled upon the nest of a demon and wanted the credit of taking it out…There's too many people like him around here; the thinking is viral."

"Too many people that want to kill demons?"

"Too many people that want to kill _all_ demons." Shiro's tone made it clear he disapproved. "Regardless of whether they're evil or not." The younger nodded in understanding.

"Their hatred blinds them to the difference between good and evil, making them incapable of anything else other than bloodlust when it comes to demons," Yukio observed. He thoughtfully began organizing the scattered papers cluttering his father's desk. The room and all its furniture were originally made to display power and status, an effect which had no doubt been tarnished by the years of coffee rings and dirty boots left on the various surfaces, but was nonetheless effective in its own way. Shiro was the only one able to get away with treating church relics like his private property. "You sent Rin away to protect him from this, right?"

The words were softly spoken, but Shiro saw the accusation as readily as he saw the anger in his son's posture, the slight stiffness of his shoulders when they were normally loose and fluid, ready to attack.

"You really mean, we didn't trust Rin to handle himself?" It was more a statement than a question. Yukio was silent, waiting for his answer. "I'm sure you've been thinking that for a while. I guess it doesn't make much sense to whisk him away instead of preparing him for what's likely to come…"

"Particularly when you've been training me to deal with the future for so long now," Yukio interjected neutrally. "It seems more logical for him to be in my place instead, rather than hiding away from the problems he's certainly going to face."

Shiro scratched his head, somewhat ashamed of his actions. His decisions must seem like favoritism towards Rin, but Yukio was intelligent enough to understand. It was about time he explained himself anyway. "In the beginning, it was essential that Rin stay ignorant of the other world for as long as possible, and it only became more important as he grew up. With his personality he wouldn't be content with being inconspicuous. A year ago I had to make the decision of whether to prolong the situation or finally tell him the truth…Mephisto convinced me the former was the best option, and the only way to keep things as they were was to get him away from the suspicious demon activity at that time, even though I wanted to keep him close to home."

Yukio took his time bringing order to the last of the Paladin's desk, stacking the papers that required attention neatly before the man. The unreadable expression on his face made Shiro lament the life he forced the boy to live even as he felt unspeakable pride for the person he raised as his son. No sixteen year old should be that adept at hiding his emotions.

"I understand," the teen said, leaving Shiro unsure whether he was truly okay with the situation or merely tolerating it because he felt he had to.

"Yukio…are you unhappy?" he asked seriously, letting the other know that he would accept any answer, that he wasn't expecting him to agree with everything he said. And Yukio, the sharp mind that he was, saw that.

"No, Father. I know you've done all you could to ensure safety for both of us." His words sounded scripted to both of them, but Shiro didn't comment.

"You know you can leave the Order anytime you want, right? You don't have to be an exorcist because I am, or because of your brother."

"I know. I want to do this." Yukio smiled, breaking the cool mask of nonchalance he almost always wore. "It's not like you could keep me here if I didn't want it."

"Oh ho, look at that attitude!" Shiro laughed. "Think you're all that, huh?"

"Look what kind of people I have to look up to, after all." The response made Shiro laugh even harder, inspired by the rare humor of his youngest son. For a second he could forget about all the problems they both had to deal with daily and imagine a happier time, in which his son was just visiting him at work, not a part of it.

"Haha so, are you ready to talk about what you really came in here for?"

"Excuse me?"

"I know you've been putting it off. You really came in to talk about the mission Mephisto gave you, am I right?" Shiro couldn't help the feeling of success brought on by the furrows between the eyebrows of the youthful face. It wasn't often he got the better of the young prodigy.

As expected, Yukio eventually huffed and gave in, settling down in one of the rather uncomfortable seats across from his father. They were designed especially so no one would be eager to spend long hours wasting his time, at least if they didn't want permanent back problems afterward. "He uses the fact that I dislike him for his own amusement, and way too often, too."

"What you're really complaining about is that you haven't gotten any farther in catching the demon." Shiro assumed correctly, judging by the increase in sourness exuded by the younger's countenance.

He exhaled through his nose angrily but seemed to gather hold of his temper. "All the deceased had exit wounds from a bullet, but not an entry wound, and no bullet is ever found. Only something supernatural could have caused it, but I haven't the slightest idea what it could be…I mean, there are plenty of demons, ever lower level ones, that could pull it off but I don't see any reason for them to have attacked at all."

Shiro looked interested. "I haven't actually looked at the case at all. Isn't killing humans enough reason for many demons to attack?"

"Yes, but the victims were spread out so far apart in the city that no demon nest could be conveniently close to all of them…And nearly all demons are common in that they look for the easiest, most convenient route to achieve something. Instead of attacking these random people they would have rampaged on everyone in the near vicinity."

"Hmm, that is weird." Shiro tapped a pen against the desk, rhythmically channeling his thoughts. "Come to think of it, Mephisto mentioned he might send for someone to help with the case. Maybe he knows no one here has the experience necessary to solve it."

Yukio looked suspicious. "You seem to trust him a lot with this. Isn't it your job to know everything about what's going on?"

The man seemed unconcerned. "I don't think he'd want you to fail." He paused. "I'll ask him about it. Maybe he can send you a hint, or something."

Yukio scowled. "I don't want the help if it's coming from him."

"Now, now." He smiled pleasingly. "If you don't like him, it's better to use him for things like this, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess." Yukio reluctantly left the matter as it was. He rose from the chair, internally groaning from the rearranging the furniture had done to his spine.

"You miss him, don't you?" His father's voice bade him pause before leaving. He had jumped back to the earlier topic but Yukio knew exactly to whom he was referring.

"…Yeah."

"Me, too."

* * *

True Cross High School was, only a few days into autumn and the new school year, alight with wafting breezes lifting the fluttering petals and leaves of slowly decaying greenery. The common trees were painted in red and yellow as often as they were green, the dye adding the needed touch of mortality to the ever-strong fortresses of the Gothic style buildings. It was a somber season, the sharp, sweaty heat of summer's humanity already gone but the opaque darkness and chill of winter not yet present, as if a man were on his deathbed still alive with the only hope that death, alone, was a certainty.

It was this tranquility of peaceful waiting that accompanied the girl through the winding paths of the school, away from the populated classrooms and to the lesser traveled quarter of the campus. The school was built like a fortress, a broad outer wall encompassing the entirety of the classroom buildings, the dorms, and several other buildings kept off limits from most students, as well as a largely undeveloped plot of land. This area of unadulterated nature was the girl's objective.

The land was destined to become a theme park, commissioned by the man in charge of the school itself for the student's enjoyment after their hard work, a treat and incentive to do well. Still in the infant stages of construction, only a fraction of the land had been cleared away. A single structure of metal beams and hanging wires towered just above two stories tall, less than a man's height in width, the foundation of what promised to be a delightfully frightful rollercoaster. Large machinery, vehicles scattered the area around the structure, preparing to clear more land in the effort to multitask in most efficient way possible. On that particular day, however, the usual buzz of construction workers was absent.

The girl, small in height but busty in shape, took delight in the rare silence of the foresty scene. She was determined to enjoy the peace of nature for the short time it was still there. Not many people took the time to appreciate nature like she did, but that was alright with her, as long as she was allowed to see the trees, talk to the flowers and hear the whisper of clean, unpolluted air in her ear and through her blonde, bobbed hair. It was a Friday and she didn't have any homework; she could spend the rest of the day as she was, nestled in the pleasant smelling patch of sweet alyssum on the small mounded hill overlooking the construction site, close to the wall separating the school grounds from the rest of the world. Since starting cram school, she hadn't had much time to relax in this way.

It was still blissfully warm during the day, and the shade from the remaining woodsy trees kept her cool. Sighing in contentment, the girl slumped against one of them lazily, letting her legs stretch out without noticing or caring if she was revealing anything under the rather short uniform skirt –it was the common style to pull the article of clothing higher than the piece's designer probably intended, and it wasn't like anyone was out there to witness her indecent position.

"Ni-chan," she called, her soft voice barely disturbing the silence as her head lolled back against the tree's trunk. A small puff of dense cloud dissipated in front of her to reveal the little greenman, her treasured familiar. The being chirped happily, its furry body jumping to rest in her golden locks. Closing her eyes in satisfaction, the unsuspecting girl didn't even notice as her solitude was molested.

The demon was old, around long before the school had been dreamt of. Demons such as he weren't royalty; they only lived so long by resting for long periods of time, conserving their strength and waiting out the periods of human life. That obnoxious clown, however, had intruded on his haven, building so many unwanted structures near his home.

Usually his place of rest was untouched, in the middle of the dense nature and too close to the clown's barrier to be trekked by anyone but foolish, misguided humans, and they were easily scared away. Recently, though, his deep sleep had been dangerously shaken by the new construction and it would only take one more small disturbance to truly wake him –a small disturbance such as a teenage girl traipsing through the greenery and opening, even briefly, a small window into the other world to summon her familiar.

The greenman was fast asleep before he could be of use, and the girl's eyes still did not open as what little sunlight remained was erased by the lithe, scaly body the size of two grown men combined. The demon's annoyance buzzed through the quiet ambience; what little wildlife existed was silenced by unease at the emotion only more sensitive creatures could feel. The demon's younger brethren stirred beneath the earth, affected by their strongest's irritation. They would not interfere with his intentions, but would merely wait, on edge, until they were called upon by the greater demon.

Less than a mile away, half demon Rin Okumura placed his hand on the nearly invisible barrier protecting the school. Normal humans wouldn't be able to detect it at all; the more mystically sensitive might feel a small tingle or itch as they passed through it before disregarding it as their imagination. Rin, however, could feel it as tangibly as a brick wall, almost sentient as it processed his lineage and debated whether it would grant him entry or not. He scoffed as the unseen particles gathered around his fingers, almost painful in the way they delved through his skin, delivering mild shocks to his nerves. He wasn't about to let something like a wall keep him from his goal.

He curled his fingers into a fist tightly, his nails digging into his skin as he prepared to force his way through. He had just gotten his wrist through when he hesitated, his movements halted not by the barrier but by his own uncertainty.

Was he ready for this? No, that wasn't the question. He'd jumped into plenty of situations he wasn't ready for and had always come out just fine. It was the thought of what lay behind the barrier, concealed within the walls of the school, that made him pause. His gut twisted, making his throat feel dry. The little he'd eaten that day threatened to come back up.

A high pitched scream cut his thoughts short. Decisively he dived through the barrier, his body suspended in the air for a moment before the particles lost their grip. He didn't have time for a personal crisis. The sound was a bit far off but his hearing was sharp. The distance was traveled in only a few minutes, the teen's powerful bounds flying him faster than humanly possible with a bit of the supernatural to give him a boost.

He found the girl halfway up the metal framework for the coaster-to-be, an odd growth of thick vines helping her ascent while keeping away a scaly, lizard-like demon. Rin recognized the demon as from the family of Vritra, maybe even the old serpent himself, as the last anyone had heard of him he was hiding away on the human side, recovering his strength from a particularly gruesome battle a few centuries before.

He contemplated for a moment as he watched the demon jumping up to nip at the girl's legs. An arm made of what seemed to be mulch knocked the demon away but didn't do any actual harm to the threat. He could assume that the girl wasn't one of the normal students if she had a familiar protecting her.

"Please, help m-uwah!" The girl caught sight of him but lost her grip on the metal bar, falling to the snapping jaw of the demon. In a second Rin was underneath her, catching her up in one arm while flicking the serpentine body back with his thumb and middle finger. The demon was big, but he wasn't the biggest Rin had gone up against and he was nowhere strong enough to be a threat to the son of Satan. In the air, Rin caught onto another metal bar and swung himself and the girl up to the uppermost level of the structure.

The girl whimpered in his ear as he set both feet on the narrow boards at the top. "Hang on tight," he told her needlessly, as both of her arms were already wrapped around his neck almost uncomfortably tight. The girl turned her head from his chest to respond but instead caught sight of the ground, so far below them from their height. Her arms tightened even further and her face burrowed desperately into his neck, as if not being able to see the danger would protect her from it.

"Oh, god," she moaned at the demon's growl from below them. The creature didn't have wings but the muscles rippling under the scaled arms, all six of them, could surely get the demon up to their height. Rin had to act before the demon decided to leave the ground, but he didn't have very many options when he had to think about the safety of a human girl. There was no way he could heft around the heavy axe he preferred with the girl hanging off of him, and he didn't particularly want to reveal that trick of his so early in the game. His free hand fingered the rarely used pistol resting snugly under the back of his shirt before dropping to the black band around his left thigh. Deft fingers pulled out a small yet sharp throwing knife, blade and hilt combined no longer than the palm of his hand. One look towards the ground told him the demon wasn't going to wait any longer.

A firmer grip around the girl's waist was the only warning he gave her as his legs bent and he sprung off the structure, vaulting into a flip before flicking the weapon lightning fast. The blade lodged itself in the beast's brain, right in between the eyes, just as the half demon's feet touched the ground, raising a small cloud of dust where the tracks of his heavy combat boots dragged across the dirt. _Well, that was quick._ The blonde girl had nearly strangled him in the descent and her surprisingly strong, very bare legs had wrapped around his waist in a death grip, but he let it be as he approached the dying form of the demon. The slightly sharper than human nails had just met the black binding of the blade stuck in the demon's forehead when the telling _click_ of a gun being cocked made him pause.

"Step away from the demon," the achingly familiar voice commanded from behind him, and he was brought back to a similar circumstance over a full year earlier. He was stronger than back then, a full extra year of experience doing things no humane being should ever have to do. And yet the steady voice from behind him still raised the hairs on the back of his neck and caused an unhealthy jump in his heart rate. Slowly Rin raised both his hands in the universal 'don't shoot, I'm unarmed' gesture and took two steps back. The girl was still clinging to him despite the absence of danger, for her, at least.

"Hey," he said softly, getting her attention. "The way you're hanging off me, you know he can see your panties, right?" The blonde head bobbed up, her shocking green eyes comically wide.

"Oh, oh!" she gasped, dropping her legs and finally releasing his neck. He tilted his head left and right a bit, trying to ease the stiffness and wondering if there would be a bruise. The girl's face was a brilliant red; her small hands came up to cover her embarrassment. For a second Rin allowed his eyes to wander over her pretty features –she definitely had a nice body, especially for a high school student –before resting on her golden locks. In another life he perhaps would have found her beautiful, heartbreakingly so, but as it was the only feeling he got from the sunshine-like skin and hair was mistrust.

"Turn around, and identify yourself," the voice demanded.

He only hesitated a second before turning around fully, feeling a mixture of twisted satisfaction and a little guilt at the disbelieving gasp, the wide ocean blue eyes so like his own.

"I. D.'s in my pocket," he said. He motioned with two fingers to his back left pocket. Yukio didn't acknowledge the words and, after a moment, Rin turned to the girl still dying of mortification off to the side. "Mind getting it, miss?" he asked, wondering if there were other exorcists hidden in the trees. He didn't see any, and the only movement he could detect was from far below their feet. _You all better calm the fuck down,_ he threatened, knowing the demons resting under the earth could sense, albeit vaguely, who he was. The feeling of restlessness faded away as the remaining demons quieted, resolving to deal without one of their own rather than challenging demon royalty.

The girl looked uncertainly between the two of them, seeming to sense some of the tension, before cautiously reaching into the back pocket –blushing even redder at the action -and pulling out a black flipbook. She opened it and brought it to Yukio, breaking his disbelief-wrought daze.

_Rin_, Rin knew the book displayed. No last name. _Race: Classified. Origin: Assiah. Clearance: Devil._ No other information other than the metallic crest on the upper corner of the card marking it as legitimately issued by the Vatican. When the exorcist was done examining the card he brought his gun down, freeing Rin to gather the knife had fallen to the floor as the demon had turned to dust.

"My name is Rin," he said perhaps for the benefit of the still unnamed girl present, perhaps for the sake of formality. It was unclear whether it was safe to reveal their relationship. Rin avoided direct eye contact with the younger twin, fearing the accusation he knew would be there as much as he feared the anger within himself, anger towards the lies and deceit his brother had put him through. "I was called in by Mephisto Pheles to assist with a mission." Yukio nodded jerkily, embracing the distraction of the introduction.

"Shiemi," Yukio called. "Are you alright?"

"Yes!" The girl nodded emphatically, to the point that Rin worried for her neck. "U-um," she turned to Rin, bowing shyly. "Thank you for saving me!" He knew Yukio was a bit surprised at the situation; he wasn't well known for genial acts of kindness after all, so he simply nodded and let the girl figure out for herself how long she wanted to keep her head bowed.

"I would appreciate it if one of you could take me to see the clow–Mephisto." Rin cursed inwardly at the familiar slip, more so when he caught his brother's lips twitch upward slightly before falling into the usual scowl. After a second the exorcist nodded, motioning for both of them to follow him. None of them spoke as they made their way to the school grounds, Rin not wanting to say anything without knowing what his brother was thinking, Yukio unwilling to be the first to connect, and Shiemi shyly glancing at both of them but too shy to speak.

* * *

The dark brown door flew open, just barely stopping before it dented the wall. One very angry looking Yukio Okumura trudged through the entrance, barely taking the time to notice that, once again, his roommate was absent, but not really caring why.

_Now, Yukio, I understand you may have some slight concerns over this situation._

With trembling fingers he unbuttoned his heavy overcoat, violently ripping the belt holding his extra ammunition from his waist.

_Mephisto, I thought it was too dangerous to let him make contact with the Vatican. Why didn't you consult me on this?_

Their father's concerned voice after his initial shock, Mephisto's half-assed excuses. Rin sitting by the window, acting as if he didn't hear the argument, as if they weren't there at all. As if he hadn't just been reunited with his brother and father after a full year of nothing.

_We can't do that anymore, we can't keep him away. We need him._

A half hysterical laugh bubbled up from his throat as he threw the clothing somewhere in his half of the closet. Overseas specialist, Mephisto had called him. The teen somehow made his way to his bed, falling into the obsessively-made sheets he had perfected only that morning. His glasses fell a little askew but he didn't care.

It seemed like his whole life he had been training to be an exorcist. He'd started when he was a little kid, a child, and had kept it a secret from his brother for as long. He'd studied, learned to fight, to kill demons, all for the sake of his half demon twin brother…and apparently Rin had been doing the same.

He didn't know whether it was relief or guilt that he wasn't the only one keeping secrets weighing him down onto the mattress. His brother…the same brother that was a genius in the kitchen and the opposite anywhere else, but it didn't matter because actually had a _heart_ unlike Yukio and that was why everyone loved him so much, why Yukio love him so much…

So where did that leave him? Them? Besides the necessary conversation when Shiemi was present earlier, neither of the twins had made the effort to speak to the other. Rin had just shown up out of nowhere, showing apparent knowledge of demons and proficiency in killing them. How was he supposed to respond to that? He was lost.

Yukio cursed, rubbing his forehead. He was normally so composed, never surprised, but the unexpected reunion with his brother had scrambled his thoughts until his brain was a mass of incomprehensible urges and stutters. Seeing him after so long, his strong, lean form vaulting off the dangerously high structure, his dark hair, longer than it was before, flowing with the speed and falling around his face, his startlingly blue eyes gazing at him with intensity. He didn't know how to act t what to say because, in the span of those few moments, he had lost his breath, his mind. He couldn't process the rapid beating of his heart that had grown unfamiliar in Rin's absence, and couldn't even begin to come to terms with the uneasy feeling seeing Shiemi's legs wrapped around his waist, the possessiveness that made him want to pull her by her blonde hair so she couldn't bury her face in the smooth skin of Rin's neck, right by the vein that pulsed blue in the right light, the one Yukio had imagined putting his lips and tongue on once or twice or more.

_Fuck! _There was no mistaking the rush of blood caused by the thought. Yukio groaned in equal parts guilt and pleasure, a hand brushing off his glasses before covering his eyes in shame. It wasn't right, not even acceptable, for him to be thinking of his brother in that way, and especially not more than once, and Yukio had long passed that number. He had managed to set aside his desires in the time they'd been separate, had tried to convince himself that they didn't exist at all. _Absence makes the heart grow fonder._

The first time it happened, they were both too young to know anything like love or lust, actions guided by a simple _hey, that feels good_, and so he didn't make the connection. But then it happened again, and again, and it didn't stop as they'd gotten older, and Yukio found himself fantasizing more often than not about messy dark hair, sparkling blue eyes, a cocky smirk framed by pale lips that stretched over the tip of his-

Somehow Yukio's other hand had made its way down to the front of his dark uniform slacks, three of his thin fingers rubbing against the fabric suggestively. He groaned at the feeling, willing away his troublesome thoughts at the promise of pure pleasure. His thumb and forefinger undid the button and pulled down the zipper, releasing some of the building tension. He didn't bother with much more than pushing the pants down a bit before sliding his hand into his boxers, taking his length into his hand. He pressed his thumb into the slit before bringing the appendage out of the straining cloth, hissing at the cold air of the room.

He pumped his member, feeling his own blood coursing through it. He found the will to peek through the fingers covering his eyes at his actions, seeing his hand covering the engorged muscle, stroking up and down the length. He couldn't help but find pleasure in how similar his hands were to Rin's, how, if he didn't think too hard, he could mistake the thin, calloused fingers for his brother's. His head pushed further into the sheets as he moaned at the thought.

And suddenly it _was_ his brother's hand gripping the soft flesh of his throbbing cock, in his mind at least. Mischievous blue eyes gazed up at him as the hand slid up and down, pre cum making the movement slick and smooth. Those perfect, peach colored lips pulled into a smile before swooping down to kiss the head of his cock, tongue darting out to taste the tip teasingly.

A few minutes later Yukio found himself covered in his own cum and disgustingly sober, the high of pleasuring himself gone with his release. It was all he could do to clean up the mess and air out the room, concealing his sins while feeling relieved that his roommate hadn't shown up to witness that.

Yukio couldn't bring himself to reconcile with his brother, not while he thought of him in such a way. Rin didn't deserve to be a part, even unknowingly, of such a disgusting ritual.

* * *

_Yo ho, so it's been a while. I'm surprised I finished this chapter, actually. I hoped you all liked it, because I'm afraid it will be a while before I update again...(I say that like I update regularly and in a timely fashion normally haha). Blame school-actually, no. Blame those teachers that are giving out unnecessary load of homework-and I'm not just complaining about having to work a little. Seriously, if we're able to pass the ap test in a few weeks as it is then we shouldn't need to deal with all this extra crap. But anyway, tell me what you think~~as I cut myself in depression at YukioxShiemi bullshit the manga is dishing out. Can we get more storyline and less weird love-triangle stuff with the blonde chick? Thanks for reading my stuff!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Honestly, if I had the original rights to Ao no Exorcist, do you really think it'd be turning out this way? **

**.**_Chapter Six._

"Dear youngest brother, how are you doing today?"

Rin snorted as he slid from his seat in the windowsill, where he'd been holed up the whole time his father and twin had been harassing Mephisto for answers they'd never get.

"Like you don't already know."

"I'm just trying to help you with your spectacular social skills. I'm impressed by how you managed to say absolutely nothing to the family you haven't seen in a whole year."

"Yeah, yeah." Rin pulled an extra rolling chair from underneath the mountains of anime memorabilia, jumping in it and rolling it so that his rather muddy boots could rest on the demon's desk, which was surprisingly empty for one who managed both a high school and a branch of an anti-demon organization. Still, the half demon managed to knock over a mug full of pink, frilly looking pens. He took pleasure in Mephisto's flustered protests, the 'those are _collectibles!_' as his overlong black nails struggled to put them all back. "So, how's the bastard down there?" he asked, distracting the demon from chewing him out for the sake of his writing utensils.

"Hmph," Mephisto finally settled back into his chair. "Why don't you go ask him yourself? They're gonna start accusing you of being a full human if you don't visit more often."

"Bullshit. You don't know because you haven't been back in at least a few decades, right?" The cocky grin on his face widened as the demon made an angry sound in the back of his throat. Only a few people could get away with speaking that way to the second most powerful demon, and Rin abused that privilege to the fullest.

"Anyway," Rin changed the subject, "besides all that crap you and the old man were talking about, trying to push me around like a chess piece, what am I actually supposed to be doing here?"

"Shiro doesn't really do concerned parent very well without becoming too dictator-like, does he? I'll admit, even I was a bit surprised; I'd thought be a perfectly doting father." Mephisto pondered for a bit then snapped his fingers, a steaming cup of coffee appearing in his tanned hands.

"Hah. Like you don't already know everything." The demon smiled mysteriously.

"Since the Vatican is still largely unaware of your presence, I'd say you shouldn't randomly burst into flames anytime soon-"

"Well duh."

"-but, since I know things will turn out how I want them to regardless, everything else is up to you, _young master_." He mockingly toasted the cup to Rin. "So, whenever you want to reveal the entirety of the double life you've been hiding, feel free."

"Like that's gonna happen."

"Either way, you should probably go talk to your 'father' at least, if only so he doesn't do something irrational. Quite a pain sometimes, him being the Paladin."

Rin ignored him pointedly and instead leaned over to pull open one of the many drawers of the desk, managing to grab onto the handle with his smallest finger, and rummaged through it until he pulled out large handful of individually wrapped candies that he knew would be there.

Mephisto raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I got rid of all those random stashes of candy. They bring ants all over my precious plushie collection."

* * *

Whispers greeted Yukio as he entered the dusty old classroom he'd graduated from years before.

"Hey, hey, did you hear?"

"Hear about what? Oh, you mean _that_?"

"Yeah, I mean, have you seen him? Is it really true?"

"Nah, you're crazy, it can't be true. Nothing that interesting happens around here."

"No, it's true!" Shiemi's high pitched voice broke out from the din. "I was there, it's true!"

"Stop making stuff up," the girl with twin tails Yukio remembered as Kamiki said, going so far as to smack the blonde girl lightly over the head. "You probably just got someone confused with that Yukio guy, or something." Everyone knew Shiemi was haplessly head over heels for the genius exorcist, and that she wasn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box most of the time. Honestly, it was a wonder that anyone ever listened to her, but, as Kamiki noticed enviously, maybe her generous bra size had something to do with it.

"No, I'm not, I swear! Yuki-chan!" She noticed him standing by the door, observing, and waved him over. "He was there, too. It's true that a new exorcist came and saved me yesterday, right, you saw it?" Her large green eyes looked at him, pleading to help her save face.

The dark haired girl snorted. "A new exorcist? Sure, I'll believe that," she said. "A new super hot exorcist with abs like steel and that can jump ten feet in the air while throwing a knife with perfect accuracy? I don't think so." Nevertheless, she looked to Yukio for an answer as Shiemi's face turned a frighteningly bright shade of pink. "Well?"

He gave the two girls a polite smile, but found it harder to force as he noticed the rest of the class paying very close attention to his response. He fought the twitch that threatened his perfect mask and internally wished he could put some duct tape over their mouths so he wouldn't have to hear their pointless gossip. (He probably could tape their mouths shut. They'd probably like it.)

He forced a small laugh, faking looking unsure. _Don't think about his abs_. "Well, I don't really know about that last part, as I only showed up towards the end, but there is a new…specialist that arrived yesterday to assist us with a few assignments." He went to the front of the classroom, hearing "I told you so!" from behind him.

"Huh, I thought the Paladin just wasn't going to show up again," Shima said, the pink head dropping to his desk at the realization that Yukio wasn't just there to visit.

"That's right; the Paladin isn't able to make today's class," Yukio said. _More like, he irresponsibly disappeared, _again,_ and we can't afford to let the students fall too behind. _"I will be taking his place for today only."

"Whyyy?" The whine was drawn out. "You're _younger_ than me!"

"Shut up, Shima. He's a million times better than you have any hope of being," Bon, the intelligent voice of reason, chastised.

Shima groaned, slumping further into the desk. "I just wanted to relax and gossip; school is so stressful!"

"School's barely started!" Kamiki pointed out. "Besides, with your grades, it's like you don't even try at all, so there's no way you can be stressed out."

"That's so mean!" he whined.

From the front of the room Yukio cleared his throat loudly, cutting off the chatter that was quickly wearing his usually endless reserves of patience. From the students' perspective, all they probably saw was the usual long-suffering polite smile on his face, and it was that smile which deceived them so easily.

"I understand that we all have other important things to worry about," he couldn't help but direct his words to Shima, "but, first and foremost, training to become an exorcist should be priority. You all knew that when you decided to join, right?" They all nodded, agreeing, if only reluctantly. "Good.

"Now," an aggressive smirk slid over his patient smile as he pulled out a stack of paper. The students' faces drooped in horror. "It's time for a quiz. I assume you've all been studying over the break?"

* * *

The shabby door to the old classroom slid open in increments, the person on the other side too weak to open it in one shot. Shima's arms shook with the effort, and eventually he just slumped to the floor, futilely making the motion of crawling out of the room but not getting anywhere. The door was finally pushed open to allow Kamiki to sneeringly step over his form. Suguro didn't even allow him that kindness; he made sure to step directly on his inconveniently placed spine. Only the quieter, less confrontational Konekomaru bothered to help Shima out of the way, even resorting to dragging his limp form when he wouldn't respond to external stimuli. Conventionality was unknown when it came to Shima's dramatics.

A minute after the last student left, the door slid open again to admit a single. It slid closed again silently, though no one was left in the hallway to hear it even if it had made a noise.

Within the classroom, Yukio sat at his desk grading the last paper. He was done quickly because half the students had left the whole thing blank, a phenomenon that had him praying for the sake of the world, if such unmotivated people made it as exorcists. Hopefully they wouldn't have a key part in any battle, because then everyone was screwed.

Though he was distracted, Yukio was well aware of the person intruding in his rare moment of quiet, and he would have been even if the meeting hadn't been planned beforehand. Yukio was doomed to at least one migraine a day, so of course it was Rin rather than any random exorcist coming to discuss the assignment with him.

And of course, no matter how much guilt Yukio felt for his feelings, how many hours he spent mentally apologizing for thinking of his own brother in such a disgusting way, he couldn't stop the sudden, powerful rush of blood to his face or the way he could hear the loud beat of his heart drumming in his ears. He was only thankful that his skin didn't flush easily, so the effect couldn't be seen in the dim lighting.

As he approached Yukio, the exorcist casually let his free hand drop to the handgun at his side. He had to be careful, especially in the presence unknown threat…but since when did he think of Rin as a threat?

_But he is a threat,_ some part of Yukio confirmed. _There's no telling what he's capable of. He's a demon, after all._ Another part of him said to keep the away so that he couldn't see what a pathetic being Yukio turned into in his presence. Yet another part said reflected his innermost impatient desires –_to hell with it, just push him up against the wall and get it over with already._ Is this what they call the Id? Perhaps not, but it was fortunate that Yukio was skilled in keeping that part of himself hidden, bottling it up so he could throw it out when he had the chance.

"Please keep your distance," Yukio warned without thinking. _Shit. _That…well, he didn't know what he meant to say, but those certainly weren't the right words for the situation. He hid his unease by concentrating on the papers. He heard the light steps end a few feet away and worked on grading the last quiz.

"Such a harsh sensei," Rin said in an almost teasing voice. The words coincided with the final mark Yukio made on the paper and he couldn't help but twist to look at his elder brother, the movement smearing the last digit of the student's score.

Rin was standing confidently, his shoulders straight and determined, but his face was carefully blank. He faced his younger brother with hands out unthreateningly. Was he always so…mature? (Was it inappropriate to notice such a thing at this time?)The day before, Yukio was preoccupied with the shock of Rin's return, but there, in the classroom, there was no such distraction.

Rin had always been beautiful, that much was fact. Even when tanned his skin was pale, and his dark, dark hair created a pleasing contrast that would catch anyone's eye on the street, regardless of sexual preference. Thick, long lashes that any girl would be jealous of shaded bright eyes, irises the color of the wide open sea on a perfect day. One could even go so far to say that he looked _delicate, _if they wanted to risk getting punched in the face after. It was weird enough thinking of a guy as pretty, but he was so much more than that.

There was still a wide distance between them, but Yukio could see the differences with the Rin he remembered, the little things that had changed. His jaw, which had before been slightly rounded, had become more angular and defined, as had his cheekbones. His eyes were perhaps less wide and his expressions less trusting, more measured. His body had filled out, too; while he hadn't yet reached Yukio's height, he was no longer lanky –there were real, visible muscles to back up his brute strength. _Abs like steel –_Shiemi certainly wasn't embellishing, judging by what he could see.

All in all, he looked, well, older. No longer an awkward, irritable boy but a near-adult, seemingly ready to take on all the problems life had to throw at him.

"Then, Sir Exorcist Teacher," Rin said, startling Yukio out of his gawking and hiding his own discomfort at the same time. "We should start, no? Unless you'd rather do all the work yourself."

"Yeah." Yukio internally commended himself for only leaving a small pause before his answer. He reluctantly gestured Rin over and pulled out the police case files. He held them out with some slight hesitation, unsure as to why the whole situation seemed off.

Well yeah, he was sitting down handing over bloody demon crime details to Rin –nothing in that sentence made any sense to him. But Mephisto had told him to and nothing the clown did made much sense until sometime afterwards, so he should be used to that frustrating feeling by then. But there was something else…

Rin took one file and unraveled the white string holding it closed, deft fingers sliding out the crime scene photos. He flipped through each one, never lingering too long. When he was done he opened the other file, under Yukio's observant gaze, and flipped through the written info and the witness brief. When he was done he looked at Yukio expectantly.

"…Well?" the younger twin asked, the unexplainable feeling that something wasn't right coming back to him.

"Hm?" Rin blinked, looking a bit confused. He folded his hands patiently, waiting for Yukio to act.

Yukio's eyes narrowed a bit. "I know you were briefed by Mephisto about the case; you were supposed to offer some sort of _insight_."

Rin blinked again, this time looking surprised. "Oh, really?" He scratched his head. "That's weird. If you couldn't get it, then why would they ask me?"

"Whu-" Yukio choked out. "You mean, you don't know_? _Why would you even come, then? Why would you let me show you files that are clearly classified?"

"I thought it was part of the show," he answered innocently. He put a thin finger to his chin in thought. "I mean, Mephisto never told me I was doing this gig for real…that wouldn't make sense, right?" He laughed, seeming not to see Yukio's growing agitation. "It's not like I have a lot of experience in this kind of thing, anyway. I usually just show up and-" he made punching motion with his fist, complete with sound effects.

Ah, and then Yukio realized why he was uncomfortable revealing important information to Rin.

"Rin…" he said dangerously.

"What's up?"

"…I think it would be best if you went to bother Mephisto now…"

"Huh? I'm supposed to be here with you, right?" Rin's face filled with uncertainty and –sadness? or was that regret? –but the unconcerned, easygoing expression he'd had for the entirety of their conversation slipped back into place almost too quickly. Before he could think about it further Yukio had forcibly dragged him outside of the room.

"Alright, alright, sheesh, you don't have to be so pushy." Rin disappeared into the hall, one hand in his pocket and the other unwrapping a piece of candy. Yes, he certainly looked like a capable young adult, and could even act like one on occasion. Looks could be _very_ deceiving, however.

Yukio honestly had no idea how on earth he could forget.

Rin was _stupid._


	7. Chapter 7

Shima sighed again before taking a sip of his soda. Surrounding him were Bon and Konekomaru, his friends since childhood. They had grown up in the same temple and when Bon made the decision to become an exorcist, the other two had naturally followed. It wasn't his friends, though, that caused his melancholic mood.

Two tables away from them in the heavily populated canteen sat three exorcists-in-training of the female variety. Though going through some rough attitude issues the year before, Kamiki, Paku, and Shiemi had managed to become rather close friends. The only girl Shima had eyes for at that moment, though, was Kamiki, who was seated closest to the edge of the table and facing him.

She was engrossed in a conversation about something or other with the other two girls, so Shima was able to unobtrusively not-creepily stare at her. He could take his time and notice how her long, dark hair, tied up in the usual twin tails, shone a romantic shade of purple in the sunlight, and how the tan she'd acquired over the summer suited her particularly well, and how even her unusually shaped eyebrows didn't detract from her beauty.

He was supposedly trying to be a monk but, god, he was helpless.

He was knocked out of his daydreaming by Shiemi suddenly jumping up and calling out to someone, waving her arms like a lunatic. The person, an unfamiliar boy around their age wandering around the tables, strode up the girls' table confidently despite seeming lost only a second before.

Suddenly the conversation around him ceased, the other members of his table also interested in who the person was. They listened in as the boy greeted Shiemi and introduced himself as 'Rin' to the other girls.

"See, I told you I wasn't making it up!" Shiemi said smugly, crossing her arms as Kamiki and Paku reluctantly agreed with her. Belatedly, Shima realized she was referring to their gossip during class, and he felt a moment of envy toward the guy, made worse by the way the three girls were looking at him. They stared at him, starstruck, as if he were some kind of celebrity, and who wouldn't? He was displeased to find that Shiemi hadn't been exaggerating about the guy's appearance –if Shima were into guys, he'd be all over that.

Everything about him screamed _dangerous_ and _sexy_ at the same time, from his skin tight jeans and leather combat boots to the muscles bulging out when he crossed his arms, the black studs in his ears, and even the risqué smirk on that handsome face and _oh god Shima thought he was hot._

"Anyway, I should be going now," Shima tuned back in to hear. "I was sent by Mephisto to tell you there's a special cram class late tonight, since the teacher has been absent so often, or something. It's a good thing I was able to find you so easily."

"Bye then!" Rin left with a casual wave, the girls' insistent whispering following his departure.

"Who the heck does that guy think he is?" Bon muttered from beside him.

"That was the person Shiemi was telling us about yesterday, right?" Konekomaru answered, looking unsure.

Bon snorted. "Oh yeah, the guy that can apparently jump off a twenty foot tall building unharmed. What a load of bull."

"I don't know, Bon…We've seen some pretty weird things."

"Oh please. He's obviously just a human; we would have noticed otherwise, and the barriers around the school keep out demons, anyway."

"I guess so..." Konekomaru seemed doubtful, but didn't offer any more protest.

"Still," Bon pondered, "I haven't heard of him before in the exorcist ranks. Just who is he?"

Shima, who had, yet again, zoned out of the conversation, sunk into the table, more depressed than he was earlier. He didn't have a chance even without any competition; how was he supposed to get Kamiki to like him when there was someone like _that_ around?

* * *

There were many things Rin was accustomed to dealing with. Power plays between bloodthirsty demons, greedy humans trying to take over the world, the ignorant ones that deliberately chose not to see what's right in front of their eyes.

One thing he would never be able to prepare himself for, however, was dealing with his father.

The man was crazy, no doubt about it. Old as dirt, if rudely put in human terms, and he could still take down a fully manifested demon without breaking a sweat. He was the Paladin, and had been for many years, and would probably be for many more years. He could outrun a tiger…okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But he could out-shoot, out-gun, and out-drink anyone else in True Cross Order.

But that's just what Rin knew about his life as an exorcist. The one he had only seen on scant occasions, the one that had him questioning everything about his childhood and everything he'd ever been taught. It was what he knew about the man apart from his title of exorcist that had him, against all reasoning, trudging up the richly carpeted steps to the uppermost wing of the eastern 'faculty' building, the one that held the Paladin's office. Most of the True Cross organization was underground, a necessity for the type of work that went on, but such an important position garnered an aboveground office complete with a breathtaking view of the enormous school…Hard work pays off, he supposed…

Shiro wasn't the Paladin, he was just an old man that liked to sneak a bit of whiskey into his tea at night and think his sons won't notice, that was usually harsh but inarguably fair in handing out punishments. But he _was_ the Paladin, and that's the part Rin had a problem with. How could he go in there and act like he was still the normal if troublesome son he used to be if the man he called his father was someone completely different from who Rin thought he was?

That's how Rin found himself reconsidering his decision, hand poised to knock on the heavy doors of the old man's office. He took a deep breath, trying to give himself the courage to complete the action, but it didn't work. Minutes passed in silence, until eventually his hand dropped back to his side.

Rin's eyes fell in something like despair. He couldn't bring himself to knock, and no amount of time loitering around the door could change the fact that he wasn't ready. Maybe he'd never be.

Then his fist clenched in anger, tight enough that his nails cut into his palm. Why did he have to be the one to reach out and fix things? He wasn't even the one in the wrong! He kept hold of that flash of anger so that he wouldn't have to deal with the underlying guilt.

As he turned to leave, a suspicious sound caught his attention. He paused, trying to listen. It seemed to have come from outside, but he didn't see anything through the large windows lining the hallway. He had just made the decision to ignore it and leave anyway when he heard it again, much louder and closer than before.

_Wait a minute, that sounds familiar._ No sooner had the thought occurred to him than the hall was doused in darkness, the light shining through the windows completely blocked by a huge shadow…one with wings.

Sunlight returned to the hall as the demon flew away from the building, revealing its massive body. It announced its presence with another rumbling growl that shook the foundations. Even larger than the one Rin had eradicated more than a year before, it's long, spike-encrusted tail swung into another building, sending an entire corner of bricks to the ground.

Rin rushed to the nearest window, flinging it open and setting one foot onto the sill before pausing. Far below him, several black-cloaked exorcists poured out of doorways, looking like large ants from his height. A bit farther away he could see the arrival of another group, marked pointedly by the leader's strikingly white hair. _Of course, after all that, the old man _would_ end up not even being in his own office._ Rin felt like kicking himself as he saw the half dozen cram students trailing after the Paladin. He was the one to tell that blonde girl about the cram class, and he forgot that his father was the one teaching it!

Bullets flew through the air, most falling short of their target but a few biting into lavender scales and drawing angry howls from the beast. Rin fought the initial urge to jump down there and join in the fight, tampering down on the irrational compulsion to help the exorcists. Instead he settled down into the window, sitting with one leg hanging outside for balance, so he could watch.

He figured if a teenage kid with a medieval weapon could bring down a dragon-like demon, then a score of trained exorcists could accomplish at least that much. It wasn't like he was jumping at the chance to reveal all his tricks, especially since he was still trying to keep off the higher-ups' radar. He didn't need suspicious exorcists asking him questions he wasn't ready to answer; that part would come in due time. For now, he would just observe. He could jump in if he was needed, if it looked like the humans were losing.

_But why was he even fighting for the humans?_ A small part of him watered that seed of disquiet. He was a demon, after all. Why was he killing his own kind?

…Well, he knew why, of course. Getting rid of murderous, bloodthirsty creatures would be considered a worthy cause by most anyone. But still. He was a half human son of Satan –he was allowed a few identity crises, a few wars on existentialism in his lifetime.

He was a demon, but he was human, too.

Life was hard.

Rin sat back and watched as the beast was finally felled, sounds of victory reaching him even at that height as the demon was captured and secured with countless bullets and yards of thick cord so they could study it later. Would they try to do that with him, too? Capture him, lock him up so they could poke and prod at the devil's abomination?

He sighed, sliding out of the window. He needed to leave before Shiro came back.

* * *

Early the next morning, Rin found himself rolling out of bed at an ungodly hour and using an enchanted key to transport himself halfway across the city at Mephisto's request. Well, order, more like.

'_Go help out with the investigation!'_ he'd said, waving around that ridiculous umbrella. '_That little brother of yours is too stubborn to figure it out himself. You want to stop all these needless deaths, right?'_

Of course, by experience, Rin knew that Mephisto was more than likely just leading everyone through his hoops again and that the case he'd sent Yukio on was, again, more than likely baked up by the clown himself. But people _were_ dying. Even though he'd acted like an ignorant fool with his younger brother two days before, he could tell from the information and photos he'd seen that the murders were a serious matter. He knew he could help with the assignment, given his own unique experiences. He wasn't as dumb as he seemed.

Maybe it wasn't in his best interest to keep concealing that particular aspect of himself.

True Cross High School truly was an enormous structure, large enough to be a small city all on its own. Large enough that, though there were several hundred average human students living on the premises, not a single one was aware of all the demonic happenings taking place right at their back doors. The night before, several armed exorcists had shot a flying demon out of the sky, and none of the normal students had any clue.

Rin had been given a room far off from the inhabited sections of the school –even if he wasn't careful about concealing his presence, the only people he would come across were the occasional errant exorcists.

Even as isolated as he was, travelling out of the school and into the city wouldn't be problematic or time consuming to someone such as him. Still, getting all the way from point A to point B was so tiresome (or he was just a little lazy); he was glad Mephisto had bothered to give him a key.

The destination was a few blocks off from where the key transported him. It wasn't like they could go around bunching up the fabric of time and space for every doorway, after all. He knew he had arrived by the ostentatious yellow caution tape and the police cruisers parked outside. The only people within the small, dilapidated apartment complex were exorcists; the only police present were loyal to the Vatican. Inside the building, people were rushing about, collecting samples and writing in little notebooks or tapping away on tablets.

Rin followed the bustle through the apartment. The building was a sorry state to begin with, white walls yellowed with years of dirt and general uncleanliness, cracks in the ceiling and floor, mildew in the carpeted corners. The whole place gave off a sour odor, like dirty socks soaked in lemon juice. There were a lot of things hidden in the dimly lit rooms, including vermin and rodents and probably a load of illegal porn –it was pure luck for the normal residents that there weren't normal, law-abiding police officers going through their things.

Damn, but the demon behind the whole thing didn't half-ass anything. All Rin had to do was follow the conspicuous trail of blood down the smaller hallway on the side to find what he was looking for. He walked in, scoffing at the bloody handprint half covering the 'D' that marked the door. Overdone. Everything pointed to a lunatic snapping and murdering the victim. There was nothing demonic about the whole thing; even the door had been manually snapped off its hinges. Nearly any demon would have been able to find a cleaner, less obtrusive way into the building.

The apartment, which was the one furthest back in the complex, was a complete mess, even compared to the rest of the building. Instead of the aftermath of a nasty fight, it looked more like a rhino had gone on a berserk tantrum and destroyed everything in the small, four-room block. Papers were torn up and thrown, shards of glass scattered around, the light fixture removed from the ceiling and planted in the wall. The refrigerator door was a permanent addition to the window.

The blood trailed through the small kitchen and into the bedroom, where larger puddles disrupted the path. Rin nimbly avoided the liquid–most of it had already been catalogued already, but he didn't want to have to clean his boots later–and made his way throughout the apartment, peeking through the doorway into the bedroom.

He saw a pale leg hanging off the mattress, half of the bedspread hanging with it. The rest of the scene was obscured by his younger brother's long coat.

"What are you doing here?" Yukio asked irritably without turning around, spitting out the _you_ as if it were bitter on his tongue. He was leaning over the dead body, silver doctor's utensils in his hands as he poked and prodded the lifeless skin. Taking a step inside, Rin could see that he was joined by a lab technician in sterile white. Neither looked fazed by the gory, torn up body they were working on.

"Supervising, of course," Rin replied cheekily, finding a spot of wall not covered in blood and human remains and leaning against it. "Someone's gotta make sure you don't make a mistake."

There was no response.

The lab tech finished whatever he was doing and excused himself formally, going so far as to bow to the exorcist. _Just a pawn, then_, Rin observed, his lip curling slightly in distaste. He tended to fight on the humans' side, but that didn't mean he had to like them. Especially those mindlessly binding themselves to the exorcist hierarchy.

Once the man was gone Yukio straightened from his work and Rin found himself with an eyeful of an angry blue glare, diluted only by the narrow gleam of his glasses in the dim light. Rin felt his breath catch, startled not so much by the sudden animosity as the strength of the resentment conveyed by those eyes, nearly organic and animate in its ability to lure him into its depths then cleave through his composure like a sword. The feeling brought a certain amount of anguish to the older twin.

Rin mentally crossed his fingers for dry eyes and was rewarded with his brother blinking once and turning away. Gratefully, he leaned further into the wall.

Due to the circumstances they faced, Rin could not find it in himself to trust his younger brother even without the angry glares and harsh words. But Yukio was still his little brother, and that was a title none other could claim. Dealing with him in such an antagonistic manner left a bitter taste, though even that was offset by the equanimity years of fighting and harboring secrets had given him.

Rin thought back to two days prior, when Yukio had all but kicked him out of the dusty old classroom used for the exorcist cram school. He was dismissed, surely cast as an idiot for his claiming ignorance.

"I have a legitimate reason to be here." Rin was unsure as to how he should act towards the other, and that made him edgy. Years of training and battling demons didn't prepare him for this. His weapons couldn't cut through the tension building up in that small room, though he wouldn't be far amiss trying, as thick as it was. "Mephisto sent me."

"Again." The tone was annoyed.

"That's right."

"To complete the pretense of being a real exorcist."

"I'm not _trying_ to be a real exorcist," Rin bit out, finding some inner resolve and, with it, revitalizing his inborn sarcasm. "That would be a bit dangerous for me, don't you think? What with the whole 'kill all demons' mentality some of your mindless drones have."

Yukio had long since turned back to his work.

The victim he was examining was a woman, curvy with red hair and green eyes, though it was hard to enjoy her aesthetic appeal when the bullet wound was a dark blemish on her otherwise smooth forehead. She was naked and covered with blood. Besides the fatal wound on her head, her abdomen and extremities seemed to have been ripped up by some kind of animal, or demon, and her throat had been torn out.

The remains of the flesh that had been dug out of the woman's body were scattered on the floors amongst the blood splatter, as if the beast had flicked it off his claws when he was done.

After a few minutes passed, and a few more after that, Rin figured he would try again.

"Have you found anything else out, then?" His breath caught in the middle of the sentence but it was thankfully unnoticeable.

The exorcist's hand paused, the tiny metal blade it was holding hovering not two centimeters from the woman's face. Yukio didn't look up again.

"And why should I bother telling you if I had?" The words were noticeably tight. "Since you're just here as a cover, it would be a waste of my time."

_Well, then. That's rather rude. _He didn't remember Yukio being such an ass. But then again Rin figured the situation was trying for both of them.

"You got that twitch in your eyebrows again," Rin pointed to his own. "You only do that when you're confused about something, and you're gonna get wrinkles from it. So you might as well bounce ideas off me or something. It's better than worrying about it in silence, I'd think."

"What kind of reason is that," Rin heard him mutter, then sigh. "Very well, then. The victim was a nineteen year old university dropout. She appears to have been attacked trying to get back to her apartment. She managed to make it inside but the demon followed her into this room and killed her in the same way it killed the other victims. It then seems to have gone on a rampage, tearing into her body and the rest of the apartment." Yukio worked as he spoke, carefully peeling back layers of blankets that had found their way into her wounds in the attack.

Rin whistled low. "And no one heard her screaming or her apartment being trashed?"

"This is a low-end neighborhood; the only ones found present were under the influence of hallucinogens so it's unclear whether what they remember actually happened. Anyone else who heard probably thought it was a drug deal gone wrong. The victim is a known user and, according to her other neighbors, it wasn't uncommon for her to bring her dealers into her room. It's weird though…" Yukio seemed to say to himself. "The other murders were cleaner and more efficient. The demon left after finishing the job, but for this one it took the time to destroy more than it needed to. It's actions don't make any sense."

It was then that Rin understand what kind of demon was behind the murders, and also why Yukio would never be able to figure it out without his help. _He's so accustomed to viewing demons as inhuman beasts that he can't see what's right in front of him._

"There's nothing abnormal I can find in her body," Yukio continued. Done with the examination, he began cleaning the instruments he had used.

"You're wrong about something though." Genius though he was, Rin needed to point him in the right direction, or the demon would never be caught. "She wasn't wounded before she got into her apartment."

Yukio paused, turning suspicious eyes on the elder. "And how do you know that?" His tone suggested he was humoring the other.

"The blood outside her door isn't hers. It's not even human."

Yukio's brow furrowed, bringing back the confused look from earlier. Rin interrupted him before he could say anything. "There's no way I could mix them up; they smell completely different. The blood trailing through the hallway is the demon's. He was injured before he broke through her door."

"How do you know it's male?" Sharp ears caught the pronoun. Rin had his full attention.

"Besides the completely unladylike mauling of the victim's body? This room reeks of pheromones." A sharp canine worried his lower lip before Rin finished the thought. "Did you check her for rape?"

There was a moment of stunned surprise before Yukio was leaning out the door, calling one of the white lab coat-wearing assistants to bring him the necessary items.

Rin pointedly looked away. Murder was one thing. He was used to bodies being chopped up, people dying –demon or human, they went pretty much the same way. But he never condoned any kind of torture.

Yukio cursed at the result. There weren't many tests he could administer on site and the human police would most likely take control of the body before any detailed tests could be done, but a full round of physical examinations was routine. He was getting careless.

"Sexual assault was the last thing I expected." Yukio grimaced. "That's one more thing that's different about this victim." There was a pause as he cleaned up again. "It's surprising…well, thank you; I wouldn't have bothered to check this or the blood, otherwise."

"I'm not as dumb as I look, alright?" Rin snapped without thinking, spurred by the stale yet honest words. "Just…" he tried to play it off, "just don't assume all demons think the same way. It's not the victim that's changed, it's the demon."

Then he hightailed it out of there as quickly as he could without drawing attention to himself. It was dangerous if he couldn't stop himself from running his mouth.

* * *

"Stupid Yukio, always making things difficult," Rin muttered. He'd forgotten to ask for a key to get him back into the school, so he had to take the long way back.

Resolving things with his brother would be difficult, especially when he didn't even know if he wanted things resolved or not. His father, too…He wished he could go back a couple years to the time when he could spend all his time thinking about the next manga release, or what to make for dinner.

He was so caught up with his thoughts that he almost stepped on a black lump lying on the sidewalk. Frustrated with his lack of perception, he quickly stepped around it. Someone like him could be attacked at any time; if he let down his guard for even a second, he could be killed.

Something made him look back, though. He'd initially assumed the black lump to be a coat someone had left there, but upon further inspection it was actually a wounded animal, a cat sith.

The cat sith must sensed his power because it opened its eyes and mewled at him weakly.

_Please, help me!_

* * *

**^End of chapter seven.**

**I HAVE A THEORY. I figured if I put that in all caps someone would read it. But you don't have to. I wouldn't, honestly. I just wanted to put it out there.**

**But anyway. So Mephisto's like master of time and everything right? He pretty much knows everything that's gonna happen. Which would be okay if he was a good demon that played by the rules. Unfortunately, he is not, even though it seems as though Shiro trusted him with a bunch of stuff. He's pretty dang evil, as far as sons of Satan go, so of course he'd make sure the Okumura twins would be used for his own purposes, instead of, say, to save humanity or something like that.**

**This also has to do with the characterization of Yukio thus far. He's definitely emotionally unstable, he doesn't deal well with his own problems, and, because of Mephisto, he has a shit ton of stress to work through; I feel like one of these chapters he's just gonna snap and start murdering people. So then I was thinking, why would Mephisto want that to happen? Especially since they're, like, brothers. Well, also taking account the events of the anime, Yukio would be a really convenient host for Satan, yes? Especially since, if left alone, Yukio is an experienced exorcist that might interfere with Mephisto's plans. So I think he planned it all for Satan to take over Yukio when he has his psychotic/demonic break, and then use Rin as his own pawn to get shit done. And then somewhere in there Satan and Yukio are killed, Mephisto takes over as head hauncho, and Rin either lives or dies but it doesn't really matter because he's kind of useless. **

**I was always confused about why Mephisto would go through the trouble of teaching Rin, having him learn how to fight, if Satan was just going to take over his body anyway. Kind of pointless, I think. And it makes sense -Rin is the true inheritor of Satan's power, the demon among the twins; it seems like Satan's other offspring don't take any notice of Yukio because he's all human, so Mephisto most likely doesn't see any blood relation between them worth mentioning. But, hell, what do I know.**

**If you managed to read this far, I thank you from the bottom of my bag of popcorn. Really, you are a wonderful person. And also, I apologize for the super late updates, and the chapters that are mysteriously shorter. I can barely believe people are still reading this story. Ehh and also there's some weird time problems in the previous chapters, like I completely miscounted the years, but I'm probably...not gonna fix it. You all get the idea.**


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